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- Directv History -
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Directv at a Glance
Current stock quote: DTV $28.47 (+0.05)
Headquarters: El Segundo, California
Date of launch: Summer 1994
Satellites in service: 9
Available satellite channels:500+
Estimated subscribers:17 Million+
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Directv Inc. is currently the United States leading digital
satellite service provider, delivering more than 500 channels of
digital entertainment and informational programming to
approximately 17 million homes and businesses in the United
States.
Early History
Directv was born from the ashes of several failed DBS ventures in the United states during the late 1980's. It was originally modelled after successful European platforms that had been in operation for several years. The advancement of digital technology and in particular digital compression in the early 1990's led to Directv's inception and successful roll out. Digital compression made it possible for the first time for several digital television channels to be squeezed onto a single satellite transponder. Previous to this, only one channel could be carried per each transponder, which meant a maximum channel barrier of 24-32 channels per satellite. Clearly this was not a feasible option for a service that was to compete head on with long established cable vision companies.
Birth of North American DBS
In December, 1993, a long realized dream came to realization with the successful launch of the United States first DBS class commercial satellite. This satellite, would be known as DBS-1 was located at Directv's allocated orbital slot of 101 degrees W.L. This satellite was a high powered commercial satellite carrying a payload of 16 circularly polarized DBS Ku band transponders, each broadcasting at 120 watts per transponder. The summer of 1994 brought the introduction of the digital Directv system, the first of its kind, an all digital, direct to home satellite service, delivering crystal clear digital channels on a small 18" satellite dish and set top receiver. The Direct system was actually comprised of 2 distinct satellite services, Directv, which delivered most of the cable vision favorite channels and network feeds, and also USSB (United States Satellite Broadcasting Co.), which delivered premium services such as premium movie channels (HBO, Showtime) as well as pay per view sporting events, such as boxing and wrestling.
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First generation Directv / USSB RCA DSS digital satellite system with 18" satellite dish and receiver.
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The Directv/USSB partnership came in 1991, as Directv's parent company, Hughes Electronics was attempting to raise financing for the Directv venture. USSB, which had previously been part of a failed DBS project in the 1980's, saw an opportunity to finally capitalize on their dream of launching a successful DBS service to the American marketplace. USSB agreed to purchase 5 transponders aboard the future DBS-1 satellite, which they would use to broadcast their premium movie and pay per view offerings. The equipment would initially be provided exclusively via Thompson Electronics RCA brand name, marketed as the Directv "DSS" (Digital Satellite System). The rights would later be licensed out to other electronics suppliers, such as Sony and Toshiba after RCA has sold 1 million systems or after 18 months of availability, whichever came first, as per their agreement with Directv. Sony became the second supplier in the summer of 1995, as the one millionth RCA DSS system rolled off the assembly line. Sony brought significant advances to the DSS, including faster processors, more features and a sleeker design. Ths competition also brought the price of the DSS system down as well.
The new Directv system quickly became one of the hottest selling consumer electronics products of the year in 1994. At the time, the complete 8 bit RCA DSS system was selling for $699, not including installation. RCA also released an advanced DSS system, offering more features, universal remote control and re-inforced satellite dish for $899. Mid-1994 brought another significant milestone as the second Directv satellite, DBS-2 launched and began operations in September of 1994. This offered Directv an additional 16 high powered transponders, which allowed them to expand their programming offerings to nearly 150 channels. This was light years ahead of cablevision systems at the time, which offered an average of 30 analog channels at far less video quality.
Recent History
In 1998, Directv purchased United States Satellite Broadcasting (USSB) for 1.3 Billion. This allowed Directv to bring the USSB premium sports and movie channels under Directv's control, which meant that subscribers no longer needed to have seperate accounts. This allowed a customer and revenue growth. A year later in 1999, Directv purchased the TCI Primestar venture for $1.8 Billion and converted their 2.2 million subscribers. This allowed for an instant revenue surge to more than 6 million customers. In late 2003, Directv sold controlling interest of Hughes Electronics and Directv to News Corp.
Broadcast Technology
The original Directv broadcast center, the first all digital broadcast center of its kind in north America, is located on a 155 acre site in Castle Rock, Colorado and consists of a 55 00 square foot facility. A secondary center was constructed later and is located in Marina del Rey, California. Together, they receive, process, and re-broadcast hundreds of digital channels to their current fleet of 9 satellites, orbiting 22 300 miles above the Earth. As Directv was launched before the MPEG-2 scheme was finalized, Directv programming utilizes a MPEG-1.5 encoding scheme for its standard definition programming and MPEG-4 encoding for its latest high definition local programming.
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U.S. Directv digital satellite system with 18" satellite dish and receiver. Other dish configurations include multi-satellite ellipitical dish as well as DBS/FSS combo dish systems.
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Satellite Technology
Directv utilizes an extensive fleet of 9 satellites, located in geo-stationary orbit 22 300 miles above the Earth. These consist of two seperate classes of satellites;
DBS-Band satellites. The high powered DBS-Band satellites utilize circular polarization and are received using standard Directv 18"-24" circular and ellipitical satellite dishes. The DBS-Band satellites include those delivering core programming at 101°, 110°, and 119°, W.L. as well as high definition and locals delivered via spot beam to select cities and markets from 72.5°. These require a seperate 18" dish for reception.
Ka FSS-Band satellites. These are used to deliver mostly high definition and local programming to the Directv subscribers. FCC regulations require a minimum spacing of nine° between high powered DBS-band satellites, which created a shortage of necessary satellite space to comply with must carry rules as well as expanding high definition offerings. To resolve this, the FCC allocated a new satellite FSS band in the Ka spectrum. Similiar to traditional medium power Ku FSS satellites, Ka FSS-band satellites use linear polarized transponders, however they broadcast at high power, allowing a small receiving satellite dish size. Directv currently use Ka FSS-Band satellites at 99.2° and 102.8° W.L. Programming from these satellites are available only to select cities and markets via spot beam technology and require a special 5 LNBF combo satellite dish and receiver.
Active Satellites
Directv currently has a total of 9 active DBS and FSS class satellites in various orbital locations:
- 72.5° W.L. - Directv 1R (Locals, HDTV)
- 99.2° W.L. - Spaceway 2 (Ka FSS Band - Locals, HDTV)
- 101° W.L. - Directv 8, 4-S, 9-S (Core programming, Locals)
- 102.8° W.L. - Spaceway 1, Directv 10 (Ka FSS Band - Locals, HDTV)
- 110° W.L. - Directv 5 (Core programming, Locals, HDTV)
- 119° W.L. - Directv 7-S (Locals, HDTV)
Retired Satellites
The following Directv satellites have been retired or de-orbited and are no longer in service.
- Directv-2, retired and de-orbited May 2007
- Directv-3, retired October 2002, leased to Telesat Canada as Nimiq-3
- Directv-6, damaged in 1997, retired and de-orbited August 2006
Overall Directv Satellite Coverage Map
Customers in the following local channel markets are eligible to receive their local ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS and FOX affiliates. Customers outside of serviced markets are eligible to receive national East or West affiliates, depending on their geographic location.
Locals & High Definition
Directv offers different local programming for different cities and markets. Some markets are offered locals in both standard definition and also high definition. Required equipment will vary dependant on the area.
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Directv Standard Dish Local Markets
Customers in the following markets are able to receive standard definition locals using the standard Directv elliptical dish that receives the 101° 110° and 119° satellites from one dish. These come in 2 configurations, 2 LNBF systems (101°/110°) and 3 LNBF systems (101°/110°/119°). The 3 LNBF system is usually needed only to receive Para Todos programming or local programming delivered from the 119° satellite.
(HD) Certain cities offer locals in high definition and require a H-20 MPEG-4/MPEG-2 receiver for reception.
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- Anchorage, AK***
- Atlanta, GA (HD)
- Austin, TX (HD)
- Baltimore, MD (HD)
- Birmingham, AL (HD)
- Boston, MA (HD)
- Charlotte, NC (HD)
- Chicago, IL (HD)
- Cincinnati, OH (HD)
- Cleveland, OH (HD)
- Colorado Springs, CO
- Columbia, SC
- Columbus, OH (HD)
- Columbus-Tupelo, MS
- Dallas, TX (HD)
- Daytona, FL (HD)
- Denver, CO (HD)
- Detroit, MI (HD)
- Durham, NC (HD)
- Fairbanks, AK***
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- Ft. Worth, TX (HD)
- Ft Lauderdale, FL (HD)
- Greensboro, NC (HD)
- Greenville, SC (HD)
- Harrisburg, PA (HD)
- Honolulu, HI***
- Houston, TX (HD)
- Indianapolis, IN (HD)
- Juneau, AK***
- Kansas City, MO (HD)
- Los Angeles, CA (HD)
- Mankato, MN
- Mason City, IA
- Memphis, TN (HD)
- Miami, FL (HD)
- Milwaukee, WI (HD)
- Minneapolis, MN (HD)
- Nashville, TN (HD)
- New York, NY (HD)
- Orlando, FL (HD)
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- Palm Beach, FL (HD)
- Philadelphia, PA (HD)
- Phoenix, AZ (HD)
- Pittsburgh, PA (HD)
- Portland, OR (HD)
- Raleigh, NC (HD)
- Rochester-Austin, MN
- Sacramento, CA (HD)
- Salt Lake City, UT (HD)
- San Antonio, TX (HD)
- San Diego, CA (HD)
- Seattle, WA (HD)
- St. Louis, MO (HD)
- St. Paul, MN (HD)
- St. Petersburg, FL (HD)
- Stockton, CA (HD)
- Tacoma, WA (HD)
- Tampa, FL (HD)
- Washington, D.C. (HD)
- Zanesville, OH
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*** 1.2 Meter Dish required for reception in Hawaii and Alaska
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Directv 2 Dish Local Markets
Customers in the following markets require the use of a second 18" satellite dish in order to receive local programming. The core programming is delivered via an ellipitical 2 LNBF dish (101°/110°)The locals for these markets are delivered from the Directv 1-R satellite located at the 72.5° W.L. orbital location.
(HD) Certain cities offer locals in high definition and require a H-20 MPEG-4/MPEG-2 receiver for reception.
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- Augusta, GA
- Burlington, VT
- Cadillac, MI
- Cedar Rapids, IA
- Champaign, IL
- Charleston, SC
- Chattanooga, TN
- Columbia, MO
- Davenport, IA
- Evansville, IN
- Fort Smith, AR
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- Florence, SC
- Fort Wayne, IN
- Greenville,NC
- Jefferson City, MO
- Johnstown, PA
- Lincoln, NE
- Macon, GA
- Myrtle Beach, SC
- New Bern, NC
- Peoria-Bloomington, IL
- Plattsburgh, NY
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- Rock Island-Moline, IL
- Rockford, IL
- Sioux Falls, SD
- Springfield, MO (HD)
- Syracuse, NY
- Toledo, OH (HD)
- Traverse City, MI
- Tri-Cities, TN
- Waco-Temple-Bryan, TX
- Wausau-Rhinelander, WI
- Youngstown, OH
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Directv Multi-Dish Local Markets
Customers in these markets require the use of a 5 LNBF Directv multi-dish system in order to receive local programming. These ellipitical dishes are designed to receive and combine signals from the 101°, 110° and 119° DBS-band satellites as well as the 99.2° and 102.8° Ka FSS-band satellites.
(HD) Certain cities offer locals in high definition and require a H-20 MPEG-4/MPEG-2 receiver for reception.
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- Albany, NY
- Albuquerque, NM (HD)
- Appleton, WI
- Bakersfield, CA
- Baton Rouge, LA
- Bay City, MI
- Brownsville, TX
- Buffalo, NY (HD)
- Cape Girardeau, MO
- Charleston, WV
- Chico, CA
- Corpus Christi, TX
- Dayton, OH
- Des Moines, IA (HD)
- Duluth, MN
- El Paso, TX
- Eugene, OR
- Fargo, ND
- Flint-Saginaw, MI (HD)
- Fort Myers, FL (HD)
- Fort Walton Beach, FL
- Fresno-Visalia, CA (HD)
- Grand Rapids, MI (HD)
- Green Bay, WI (HD)
- Harlingen, TX
- Hartford, CT (HD)
- Huntsville, AL
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- Huntington, WV
- Jackson, MS
- Jacksonville, FL (HD)
- Kalamazoo, MI
- Klamath Falls, OR
- Knoxville, TN
- Lafayette, LA
- Lansing, MI
- Las Vegas, NV (HD)
- Lexington, KY
- Little Rock, AR
- Louisville, KY
- Madison, WI (HD)
- McAllen, TX
- Medford, OR
- Mobile, AL
- Monterey, CA
- New Bedford, MA
- New Haven, CT
- New Orleans, LA (HD)
- Norfolk, VA (HD)
- Oklahoma City, OK (HD)
- Omaha, NE
- Pensacola, FL
- Paducah, KY
- Pine Bluff, AR
- Portland, ME (HD)
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- Providence, RI (HD)
- Reno, NV (HD)
- Richland-Kennewick, WA
- Richmond-Petersburg, VA
- Roanoke, VA
- Rochester, NY
- Salinas, CA
- San Luis Obispo, CA
- Santa Barbara, CA (HD)
- Sante Fe, NM
- Schenectady-Troy, NY
- Shreveport, LA
- South Bend-Elkhardt, IN
- Spokane, WA (HD)
- Springfield, MA
- Superior, WI
- Tallahassee, FL
- Thomasville, GA
- Topeka, KS
- Tucson, AZ
- Tulsa, OK (HD)
- Tyler-Longview, TX
- Weslaco, TX
- Wichita-Hutchinson, KS
- Wilkes-Barre, PA
- Wilmington, NC
- Yakima-Pasco, WA
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08/04/2008 11:20 AM
In order to give the website a better focus, we are phasing out the less popular areas of the site, including the high definition and digital video recorder areas and forums. This will leave the site focused on digital satellite television and satellite radio.
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