DirecTV
DirecTV, LLC (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital satellite service serving the United States. It also provides traditional linear television service delivered by IP through its U-verse TV brand and a Virtual MVPD service through its DirecTV Stream brand.[2] Its primary competitors are Dish Network, traditional cable television providers, IP-based television services, and other over-the-top video services.
Formerly
The DirecTV Group, Inc. (2005–2015)
Nasdaq: DTV
June 17, 1994 (as DirecTV)
United States, Latin America, the Caribbean and Europe
On July 24, 2015, after receiving approval from the Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Justice, AT&T acquired DirecTV in a transaction valued at $67.1 billion.[3][4]
As of the end of Q1 2021, AT&T had 15.9 million pay-TV customers, including DirecTV, U-Verse, and DirecTV Stream subscribers.[5]
On February 25, 2021, AT&T announced that it would spin-off DirecTV, U-Verse TV, and DirecTV Stream into a separate entity, selling a 30% stake to TPG Inc., while retaining a 70% stake in the new standalone company. The deal closed on August 2, 2021.[6][7]
DirecTV transmits programming with encryption to mitigate signal piracy. The receiver (also known as an IRD, or "integrated receiver-decoder") utilizes ISO/IEC 7816 smart cards which tell the receiver how to decrypt the programming for viewing. In a continuing effort to combat piracy, an access card generation is created approximately every two years, superseding the old set. DirecTV is now utilizing the fifth generation of access cards.
DirecTV has battled with an active signal piracy underground for many years. One infamous event that temporarily hampered pirates was known as 'Black Sunday', which took place one week before Super Bowl Sunday in 2001. Hackers saw a string of software updates starting in late 2000 which each contained a few innocuous bytes. However, when the innocuous bytes from all those updates were combined, they became code that searched for and destroyed 98% of hacked smart cards and then wrote the text "GAME OVER" to the first 8 bytes of the hacked cards memory. Hacks continued after that event.[104][105][106]
[107]
4K television[edit]
In November 2014, DirecTV became the first television provider to begin offering 4K ultra-high definition content. On launch, 4K content was limited to renting a small library of on-demand films, downloaded to the subscriber's Genie DVR (some 4K content can also be pre-loaded automatically to the set-top box via the Genie Recommends feature). The 4K service could also only be used on "DirecTV 4K Ready" televisions, which support RVU protocol; this was limited to selected Samsung 4K televisions released in 2014.[110]
In 2015, DirecTV introduced 4K Genie Mini set-top boxes, which can be connected to any HDMI 2.0/HDCP 2.2-compliant devices to provide 4K video.[111]
In April 2016, DirecTV began live sports broadcasts in 4K to eligible subscribers, including coverage from the 2016 Masters Tournament,[112][113] 25 MLB Network Showcase baseball games in the 2016 season (subject to local blackout restrictions) beginning April 15, 2016,[114] and all Notre Dame college football home games during the 2016 season.[115]