DirecTV to Launch Three 3D Channels in June
DirecTV will take a three-pronged approach when it launches its 3D channels in June, company executives said in recent conference calls and investor conferences, apparently with little fanfare. The satellite operator will dedicate one 3D channel to documentaries, movies and concerts, and a second to live sports and concerts, the executives said. A third channel will be devoted to video-on-demand, they said. A highlight will be DirecTV’s live 3D airing of Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game in July, CEO Michael White said on an earnings call.
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DirecTV’s 3D programming will be beamed from the DirecTV-12 satellite at 102.8 degrees west. The Boeing BSS-702 satellite launched Dec. 29 and began testing Feb. 13 at 76 degrees west, company officials said. The satellite is expected to be operational in early Q2 and will reach 102.8 degrees west in early May, company officials said. In addition to 3D, DirecTV-12 will give the satellite service capacity for 200 HD channels nationwide, DirecTV said in a 10-K filed Friday at the SEC. The satellite also will deliver local HD programming in 19 new markets, increasing the number of them with local HD channels to 157, DirecTV said.
DirecTV will broadcast 3D in frame-compatible side-by-side format that’s supported by most 3D TVs, said Hanno Basse, DirecTV vice president of broadcast systems engineering, at the Hollywood Post Alliance Tech Retreat in Rancho Mirage, Calif. DirecTV’s existing head-end equipment and set-top box receivers support the 3D format with “minimal modifications,” Basse said. DirecTV customers will get 3D programming using their existing HD STBs but need a 3D TV to display it, he said.
It also will introduce DirecTV Cinema, which will “substantially increase” the number of new release movies available through VoD, the company said. DirecTV on Demand offered about 6,000 titles as of Dec. 31, the company said. DirecTV also expects to deliver a MoCA-based multi-room viewing service in the second half, providing HD, SD and DVR functionality throughout the home, the company said.
Meanwhile, the Fifth Circuit of Court of Appeals in January upheld a summary judgment finding invalid patent infringement claims that Finisar lodged against DirecTV, the company said. A federal court jury awarded Finisar $78.6 million in 2005, finding that DirecTV infringed a patent for a tiered system that schedules programming transmission and a so-called “intelligent subscriber anticipation scheme,” DirecTV said. An appeals court reversed the verdict in 2008, saying a lower court erred in interpreting the terms of some claims, DirecTV said.
Liberty Media also was sued last month by shareholders claiming its board breached fiduciary duties in connection with the “business terms and approval process” of DirecTV’s merger with Liberty Entertainment last fall, DirecTV said. The suit, filed Feb. 9 in Delaware Chancery Court, alleged Liberty Chairman John Malone received “disparate allocation of consideration” in the transaction, DirecTV said. Similar suits filed last year that alleged DirecTV board members breached their fiduciary duties in approving the deal were settled last fall. The suits were filed in Delaware Chancery Court and California Superior Court by DirecTV stockholders. Liberty Media purchased News Corp.’s 42 percent of DirecTV in 2008. Liberty increased that to 57 percent before merging DirecTV with Liberty Entertainment. Liberty Media kept 24 percent voting share in DirecTV. - Mark Seavy