DIRECTV Delivers Profit Gains

EL SEGUNDO, August 8: Second quarter profit at The DIRECTV
Group more than doubled to $458.7 million, on revenues of $3.52 billion, a
10-percent gain on the year-ago period.

For the first half of the year, meanwhile, revenues rose
from $6.33 billion to $6.9 billion, posting a profit of $693.9 million, up from
last year’s $120.1 million.

The company attributed the gains to increased subscriber
bases at both DIRECTV U.S. and DIRECTV Latin America.

The DIRECTV platform in the U.S. saw revenues rise 12
percent in the quarter to $3.3 billion, and ARPU rose from $67.79 to $71.59.
With churn down from 1.69 percent to 1.59 percent, the platform ended the
quarter with 15.51 million subscribers, a 6-percent gain.

At DIRECTV Latin America, revenues rose from $184 million to
$202 million, but the segment recorded a loss of $13 million, compared to the
year-ago profit of $4 million. The division added 77,000 net subscribers
principally due to subscriber growth in Argentina and Venezuela. The total
number of DIRECTV subscribers in Latin America as of June 30, 2006 increased 14
percent to 1.73 million.