DIRECTV Announces Q2 Results, Renews CEO Contract

NEW YORK, August 9: The DIRECTV Group, which today reported
a 17-percent increase in second-quarter revenues to $4.14 billion, has renewed
the contract of its president and CEO, Chase Carey, for another three years,
continuing through December 31, 2010.

"We are pleased that DIRECTV will continue to benefit
from Chase's strong leadership," said John Malone, the chairman of Liberty
Media Corporation, which has acquired News Corporation’s majority stake in the
satellite platform. "Since joining DIRECTV in 2003, Chase has overseen the
growth of the company in an increasingly challenging environment and enabled it
to build on its leadership position in the business. I look forward to working
with Chase as we take DIRECTV to new heights for both its customers and
shareholders."

The company has recorded Q2 revenues of $4.14 billion, a
17-percent gain on the year-ago period, with a net income of $448 million. For
the first half, meanwhile, revenues gained 16 percent to $8 billion, with
profit up 13 percent to $784 million.

At the U.S. operation, Q2 revenues increased 12 percent to
$3.73 billion due to strong ARPU growth and a larger subscriber base. Net
subscribers increased to 128,000 in the quarter, bringing the total number of
DIRECTV U.S. subscribers as of June 30, 2007 to 16.32 million, an increase of 5
percent over the same period last year. Churn fell to 1.58 percent, thanks to
increased sales of HD and DVR services. ARPU rose 6.8 percent to $76.43. For
the quarter, operating profit was $722 million, down from last year’s $775
million.

In Latin America, net subscriber additions increased 83
percent to 141,000 primarily due to subscriber growth in Brazil, Venezuela and
Colombia. Also contributing to the net subscriber increase was a decline in
aggregate churn from 1.46 percent to 1.38 percent. The total number of DIRECTV
subscribers in Latin America increased to 2.94 million from 1.73 million, due
to the 869,000 subscribers added as a result of the merger with Sky Brazil in
the third quarter of 2006 as well as the new subscribers added throughout the
region over the past year. Revenues more than doubled to $409 million, and the
business emerged from a $13 million loss to post a $41 million profit.