The DIRECTV Group Announces Second Quarter 2006 Results

Business Wire, August 8, 2006

In the quarter, DIRECTV U.S. revenues increased 12% to $3.32 billion due to the larger subscriber base and strong ARPU growth. ARPU of $71.59 increased 5.6% compared to last year principally due to programming package price increases as well as higher mirroring, lease, digital video recorder (DVR) and high-definition programming fees.

The second quarter 2006 operating profit before depreciation and amortization increased 93% to $977 million and operating profit increased 132% to $774 million primarily due to the capitalization of customer equipment, the increase in gross profit generated from the higher revenues and lower subscriber acquisition costs resulting primarily from the reduction in lower quality subscriber additions. Excluding the $253 million of customer equipment that was capitalized under the new lease program, operating profit before depreciation and amortization would have increased 44%.

DIRECTV Latin America Segment

DIRECTV Latin America and Sky Consolidation. On October 11, 2004, The DIRECTV Group announced a series of transactions with News Corporation, Grupo Televisa, Globo and Liberty Media that are designed to strengthen the operating and financial performance of DIRECTV Latin America by combining the two Direct-To-Home platforms into a single platform in each of the major territories served in the region. In 2006, The DIRECTV Group paid News Corporation and Liberty Media approximately $373 million for their equity stakes in Sky Mexico and received approximately $59 million from Televisa at the completion of the Sky Mexico transaction. DIRECTV Latin America completed the migration of approximately 144,000 subscribers to the Sky Mexico platform and ceased operations in 2005. The DIRECTV Group owns approximately 41% of Sky Mexico, which has 1.39 million subscribers. In the third quarter of 2006, The DIRECTV Group expects to receive approximately $97 million from News Corporation upon completion of the transaction in Brazil. For the rest of the region, the consolidation transactions have been completed.

Three Months      Six Months
DIRECTV Latin America                  Ended June 30,   Ended June 30,
Dollars in Millions                    --------------   --------------
                                        2006   2005      2006   2005
-------------------------------------- ------- ------   ------- ------
Revenue                                  $202   $184      $395   $367
-------------------------------------- ------- ------   ------- ------
Operating Profit Before Depreciation
 and Amortization(1)                       21     45        96     68
-------------------------------------- ------- ------   ------- ------
Operating Profit (Loss)                   (13)     4        31    (10)
-------------------------------------- ------- ------   ------- ------
Net Subscriber Additions(4) (000's)        77     45       139     74
-------------------------------------- ------- ------   ------- ------
Cumulative Subscribers(4) (000's)       1,732  1,519     1,732  1,519
-------------------------------------- ------- ------   ------- ------