What is DirecTV?

DirecTV is one of the largest satellite TV providers in the U.S. and is a subsidiary of the DirecTV Group-a media conglomerate operated by Liberty Media. The company was founded in the mid nineteen-nineties and has since grown into a major premium television provider. DirecTV's service operates through use of satellite technology, which employs communication satellites to send information to a satellite dish to provide TV direct to the user's home where the information is routed through a TV set-top box, providing premium TV programming to over 18 million subscribers. DirecTV's main competitors in the premium television market are the satellite company Dish Network and Comcast cable. DirecTV's service currently extends to the continental United States, South America, and the Caribbean.

As a satellite TV provider, DirecTV (like its competitor Dish Network) is able to provide TV programming and satellite Internet service to areas where cable television and DSL Internet may not be available due to geographic restrictions. DirecTV subscribers are provided with the required set-top box and satellite dish, allowing users to be provided with TV direct to their homes. The provided satellite dish is typically installed atop the user's rooftop, which allows the greatest possible reception and communication with orbiting communication satellites.

Like all satellite TV providers, DirecTV's service can experience difficulties due to atmospheric conditions or inclement weather, which can effect signal reception and cause disruptions to service. (Often these service disruptions can last throughout the duration of severe thunderstorms or rainy/snowy conditions.) Other service problems are typically a result of a misaligned satellite dish or minor hardware malfunctions. Overall, DirecTV boasts a high rate of customer satisfaction though critics cite the more than 20,000 customer complaints to the Better Business Bureau within the past three years as evidence of major dissatisfaction (these complaints were in reference to cancellation fees levied by DirecTV), despite the complaint number's low percentage when compared with DirecTV's 18 million current subscribers.

Currently DirecTV's service includes over 120 HDTV channels. DirecTV's recent advertising campaign has stressed the number and variety of HDTV channels offered as an attempt to separate itself from its two main competitors, Comcast and Dish Network. Though all networks provide over 100 HDTV channels on average, DirecTV has stressed repeatedly that it boasts more HDTV channels than Comcast or Dish Network. The total amount of channels Direct TV provides is currently in the hundreds depending on which package a subscriber selects. NFL Sunday Ticket is one of the most popular channels DirecTV offers.

Other services provided by DirecTV include an optional Directv DVR service, which operates similarly to most home VCRs by allowing users to record programs (including broadcasted HDTV programs) onto an installed hard drive. Like other premium TV providers DirecTV often bundles a number of services into discounted packages (these typically include services like satellite Internet) for a much lower rate than otherwise.