DirecTV: Difference between revisions

 

===Becoming a standalone entity===

 

In February 2004, Hughes announced its intent to focus solely on its satellite television operations and divest its other interests, renaming itself The DirecTV Group, Inc. on March 16, 2004 and changing its ticker symbol from "HS" to "DTV".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/944868/000119312505038986/d10k.htm |title=2004 Form 10-K, The DirecTV Group |publisher=U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission |date=March 17, 2004 }}</ref> In April of that year, it sold its controlling interest in PanAmSat to a private consortium led by [[Kohlberg Kravis Roberts]] for $3.53&nbsp;billion.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://articles.latimes.com/2004/apr/21/business/fi-panamsat21 |title=DirecTV Agrees to Sale of PanAmSat Unit |newspaper=L.A. Times |date=April 24, 2004 }}</ref> On April 22, 2005, DirecTV spun off Hughes Network Systems into a separate entity and sold 50% of the new entity to [[SkyTerra]], acquiring $157.4&nbsp;million in the transaction.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/944868/000104746906003209/a2168249z10-k.htm |title=2005 Form 10-K, The DirecTV Group, Inc. |publisher=U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission |date=March 10, 2006 }}</ref> In January 2006, DirecTV sold its remaining 50% share in Hughes Network Systems to SkyTerra for $100&nbsp;million.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hughes.com/HNS%20Library%20Press%20Release/01-03-06_SkyTerra_acquires_remaining_interest_in_HNS_LLC_from_DirecTV.htm |title=SkyTerra Communications Acquires Remaining Interest in Hughes Network Systems LLC from The DirecTV Group |date=January 3, 2006 |publisher=SkyTerra Communications, Inc. |access-date=October 19, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110215180606/http://www.hughes.com/HNS%20Library%20Press%20Release/01-03-06_SkyTerra_acquires_remaining_interest_in_HNS_LLC_from_DIRECTV.htm |archive-date=February 15, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The sale effectively ended DirecTV's 20-year existence through Hughes Electronics as a technology conglomerate, leaving it solely with its satellite television services.