DirecTV Subscriber Guidance Falls

Hughes lowered subscriber guidance for its DirecTV unit, but raised EBITA figures for the satellite TV service.

Third quarter subscriber guidance was lowered to a range of 200,000 to 210,000 net additions, compared to a prior range of 250,000 to 300,000. Executives attributed the lowered guidance to higher than expected monthly churn, which was related to the replacement of old access cards. In addition, gross subscriber activations have been slightly below expectations, mostly due to a decline in consumer confidence resulting in softer sales at national consumer electronics retail outlets, executives said.

Also during the quarter, about 50,000 active subscribers who were paying for basic service - but were believed to be receiving some services via illegally modified access cards - were disconnected from DirecTV, executives said.

DirecTV's third quarter EBITDA guidance was raised by $45 million to approximately $195 million, an increase attributed to the continued success with reducing the service's cost structure, improved monthly subscriber revenue and lower marketing costs associated with reduced subscriber projections.

From SkyReport (Used with Permission)