improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . learn how and when to remove these template messages this article may be in need of reorganization to comply with wikipedia s layout guidelines . please help by editing the article to make improvements to the overall structure . june 2016 learn how and when to remove this template message this article may have too many section headers dividing up its content . please help improve the article by merging similar sections and removing unneeded subheaders . june 2016 this article s lead section may not adequately summarize key points of its contents . please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article . please discuss this issue on the article s talk page . june 2016 learn how and when to remove this template message it has been suggested that the portions about the operations outside the united states be split out into articles titled directv latin america and directv caribbean . discuss june 2016 directv directv s headquarters building in el segundo california type subsidiary industry satellite television founded december 20 1985 ; 30 years ago 1985 12 20 as hughes electronics corporation 1990 ; 26 years ago 1990 as directv 1 headquarters 2230 e. imperial highway el segundo california us area served united states latin america the caribbean key people john t. stankey president of at & t entertainment and internet services 2 products direct broadcast satellite pay television pay per view parent at & t subsidiaries directv u.s. directv latin america at & t sports networks game show network 42 % audience website www.directv.com a standard directv satellite dish with dual lnb on a roof directv stylized as directv is an american direct broadcast satellite service provider and broadcaster based in el segundo california . as of july 2015 it is a subsidiary of at & t. its satellite service launched on june 17 1994 transmits digital satellite television and audio to households in the united states latin america and the caribbean . 3 4 its primary competitors are dish network and cable television providers . after receiving approval from the united states federal communications commission and united states department of justice at & t s acquisition of directv in a transaction valued at 48.5 billion 5 was completed on july 24 2015 . 6 directv provides television and audio services to subscribers through satellite transmissions . services include the equivalent of many local television stations broadcast television networks subscription television services satellite radio services and private video services . subscribers have access to hundreds of channels so its competitors are cable television service and other satellite based services . 7 most subscribers use reception antennas which are much smaller than the first generation antennas which were typically a few yards meters across . advances in antenna technology including fractal antennas have allowed a general reduction in antenna size across all industries and applications . receiving equipment includes a satellite dish an integrated receiver decoder and a directv access card which is necessary to operate the receiver decoder . 8 consumers who purchase directv subscribe to various packages of directv programming for which the subscriber pays a monthly fee . additional monthly fees may include a protection plan which provides for repair or replacement of consumer leased equipment from damages caused by lightning power surges floods etc. dvr additional receivers hd channels and other premium channel packages . a subscriber also can order pay per view and video on demand events and movies . directv contracts with and pays program providers such as cable networks motion picture distributors sports leagues event promoters and other programming rights holders for the right to distribute their programming to its subscribers . all programming distributed by directv is delivered to its broadcast centers in castle rock colorado and los angeles where it is then digitized and compressed . the resulting signal is encrypted by directv to prevent its unauthorized reception . directv then transmits these signals to several satellites located in geostationary orbit . 8 as of the quarter q3 ended september 30 2012 directv u.s. had 19.981 million subscribers and revenues for the quarter of us 5.769 billion . for the same period directv latin america ended with 9.666 million subscribers and revenues of us 1.577 billion . 9 in addition to serving residences directv offers service to bars restaurants hotels dorms and hospitals through their directv for business service . the company also offered mobile service for cars boats and rvs directv mobile as well as aircraft directv airborne in cooperation with connexion by boeing . contents 1 history 1.1 origins 1.2 becoming a standalone entity 1.3 expansion 1.3.1 acquisitions 1.4 subsidiary of at & t 2015 present 2 satellites 3 receivers 4 access card history 5 high definition television hdtv 6 4k television 7 local channels 8 programming 9 marketing 9.1 directv blimp 10 customer service 10.1 better business bureau review 11 consumer protection lawsuits and violations 11.1 washington state s attorney general civil complaint 11.2 california class action lawsuit 11.3 telemarketing violations 11.4 deceptive advertising 11.5 illegal placement of advertisement 12 exclusive channels 13 see also 14 references 15 external links history edit origins edit this section has multiple issues . please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . learn how and when to remove these template messages this section needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . march 2016 learn how and when to remove this template message this section possibly contains original research . please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations . statements consisting only of original research should be removed . march 2016 learn how and when to remove this template message learn how and when to remove this template message hughes electronics logo 1985 1990 in 1953 howard hughes created the howard hughes medical institute hhmi to which he transferred full ownership of hughes aircraft . citation needed ostensibly created as a non profit medical research foundation hhmi was accused of being used by hughes as a tax shelter . citation needed following hughes death in 1976 hhmi was incorporated in 1977 and litigation ensued to determine whether it would be allowed to maintain its interest in hughes aircraft . citation needed in 1984 the court appointed a new board for hhmi which proceeded to sell off hughes aircraft to general motors on december 20 1985 for an estimated 5.1 billion . 10 general motors then merged hughes aircraft with its subsidiary delco electronics to create hughes electronics corporation . citation needed the new subsidiary was initially composed of four units delco electronics company hughes aircraft company hughes space and communications company and hughes network systems . citation needed stanley e. hubbard founded united states satellite broadcasting ussb in 1981 and was a leading proponent for the development of direct broadcast satellite service in the united states . citation needed ussb was awarded five frequencies by the fcc at the coveted 101 degree west satellite location . citation needed hughes communications inc. was also awarded 27 frequencies at the same 101 degree location . citation needed after many years the technology was developed to enable the building of very high power satellites and digital compression mpeg 2 standards were developed that allowed multiple digital television channels to be sent through each satellite frequency . citation needed hughes attempted to create a joint venture with nbc news corp. and cablevision in 1990 to launch the first high power digital television service called sky cable . 11 failing to do so the company instead created directv as a separate division and secured an agreement with ussb to build and launch the first high power direct broadcast satellite system . citation needed directv s name is a portmanteau of direct and tv as in direct broadcast satellite television . citation needed hughes directv then turned to thomson consumer electronics under the rca ge and proscan brands to develop the digital satellite system for the service that would be capable of receiving 175 channels on a small 18 inch dish . citation needed these dishes utilized a new generation of smaller lighter receiver dishes based on military technology introduced by the global broadcast system which predated directv s viability by almost ten years . citation needed hughes was awarded the contract to build and launch the new high powered satellites and ussb and directv agreed that the new satellites would carry the two separate programming services ussb and directv . citation needed the ussb and directv programming services were launched on june 17 1994 . citation needed digital equipment corporation provided the hardware for directv matrixx marketing part of cincinnati bell provided customer care via the matrixx plus department and dbs systems created the billing software . citation needed in december 1998 directv acquired ussb for 1.3 billion and combined the two satellite services . 12 in 1999 directv acquired primestar a competitor in the satellite television industry for 1.83 billion dramatically increasing its share of the satellite television market in the us . 13 in september 1996 hughes purchased 70 % of panamsat for 3 billion . 14 in 1997 gm spun off delco electronics from hughes and transferred it to delphi automotive systems . 15 that same year hughes aircraft was sold to raytheon for 9.5 billion . 16 raytheon filed a lawsuit in 1999 accusing hughes of overstating the value of hughes aircraft by 1 billion . 17 a 635.5 million settlement was reached in 2001 . 18 in 2000 hughes space and communications was sold to boeing for 3.75 billion 19 which it later claimed had also been overvalued by hughes . hughes later settled with boeing for 360 million . 20 these sales left directv panamsat and hughes network systems as the remaining components of hughes electronics . in september 2000 gm executives under pressure from gm s shareholders as a result of its poor performance and the substantially greater market worth of hughes authorized hughes executives to begin seeking buyers . 21 in 2001 news corporation began negotiations to acquire hughes electronics in a deal worth 8 billion which would allow news corp. to expand its sky global networks satellite television operations into the united states . 22 negotiations with news corp. ultimately failed and hughes entered into an agreement on october 28 2001 to be purchased for 26 billion by echostar owner of dish network . 23 however the deal attracted significant opposition from the department of justice and the federal communications commission for antitrust concerns leading the two companies to withdraw the agreement in december 2002 . 24 as part of the merger agreement echostar was required to pay hughes 600 million for the failure of the merger . 24 on april 9 2003 news corporation agreed to purchase a 34 % controlling interest in hughes including gm s entire share of the company for 6.6 billion subject to sec approval . 25 as part of the financing for the deal liberty media agreed to take a 500 million option of stock in news corporation that would be exercised upon the closing of the deal . liberty the second largest shareholder in news corp. after the murdoch family with 18 % had originally planned to bid for directv but opted not to upon the agreement . 25 the fcc voted 3 2 along party lines on december 19 2003 to approve the deal subject to conditions forcing news corp. to agree to arbitration for all disputes with carriers of its media broadcasters and to provide content through directv neutrally rather than favoring its own networks . 26 year subscribers 1994 320 000 1995 1 200 000 1996 2 300 000 1997 3 301 000 1998 4 458 000 1999 6 679