DIRECTV 2012 Annual Report Download - page 33

DIRECTV
introducing an advanced whole-home DVR. As of December 31, 2012, beyond, we plan on continuing to serve the value-focused customers in
approximately 28% of our subscribers had advanced products. Brazil and PanAmericana through targeted marketing and distribution
strategies, as well as leveraging our relationship with DIRECTV U.S.
•Strengthen Our Position in HD. Although we expect that the HD to obtain lower cost set-top receivers.
content offerings will be more limited in Latin America than in the
United States for the next several years and the uptake of HD services • Establish Colombia as the Third Major Country in PanAmericana. In
in Latin America will be slower than in the United States, we believe terms of total households, Colombia is the largest country in which we
that continuing to expand our HD offerings provides us with a operate in PanAmericana. Due to continuous improvements in the
significant competitive advantage across market segments that are business operating environment, favorable economic trends and
expected to experience continued growth. As of December 31, 2012, relatively low pay television penetration rates in the marketplace, we
Sky Brasil offered its customers 47 HD channels and PanAmericana believe Colombia presents a significant growth opportunity. In 2012,
offered its customers on average 17 HD channels. We believe that we we established a goal to make Colombia our third largest market. To
currently have a leading HD channel offering in Brazil and are looking fulfill our objective we introduced tailored offers to profitably provide
to establish leadership in PanAmericana by increasing the capacity of our service to higher-end markets as well as value-focused customers.
our current satellite servicing the region by completing the migration We also expanded our dealer network and acquired programming rights
of our business in Puerto Rico to the U.S. satellite platform and for the Colombia soccer league. We plan on continuing to profitably
upgrading our broadcast ground facilities during 2013. We also expect expand our position in Colombia during 2013 through targeted
to extend our advantage with the anticipated launch of our new leased marketing and distribution strategies that increase awareness and
satellites starting in 2014. association with Colombian sports.
•Profitably Increase Penetration in Middle Market Segment. Based on • Enhance Productivity and Manage Costs. Improving productivity and
generally low pay television penetration rates and favorable economic identifying efficiencies are critical to our goal to maintain strong margins
and demographic trends in the region, we believe the rapidly growing particularly given the rapid growth of our subscriber base and regional scale
middle market continues to represent a significant opportunity for of our operations. In particular, we plan to focus our efforts on productivity
growth. In 2012, we continued to tailor our offers and products to initiatives aimed at improving overall customer service levels. For example,
profitably and effectively provide our service to value-focused customers we expect to utilize technology to implement process improvements in our
who had the need and desire for affordable access to our brands and call centers and other areas, such as upgrading our billing systems and
service. Typically, these offers and products are similar to our informational technology systems. During 2012, we began investing in new
traditional ones except they allow customers access to significantly customer relationship management systems and plan to continue centralizing
fewer channels and limit the number of set-top receivers customers our network management structure in 2013 to ensure superior service levels
may have in their homes. Our SKY service in Brazil offers these across customer segments while simultaneously improving productivity. We
products and services to customers who meet our standard will also continue leveraging cost containment best practices from
requirements on a traditional post-paid basis. In PanAmericana, we DIRECTV U.S. We expect initiatives like these to enhance operations across
offer our DIRECTV service on a pre-paid basis to the middle market the various countries and regions where we offer service under the
segment. Pre-paid subscribers purchase a set-top receiver and antenna at DIRECTV and SKY brands.
a regional retailer and pre-pay their DIRECTV service through various •Leverage Brand and Customer Base to Introduce Complementary
means, such as purchasing a rechargeable card that they can acquire at Services. To expand our leadership in particular markets we are testing
a retailer or local kiosk. The video service automatically disconnects potential growth opportunities that could optimize the profitability of our
once the credit on the card runs out. Looking ahead at 2013 and
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