Direct Satellite TV Blog

DIRECTV to Carry Public Television Stations in HD

EL SEGUNDO, Calif., Dec. 19, 2007 — Public Television stations across the country will soon be available in high-definition (HD) to DIRECTV customers through a landmark agreement reached today by DIRECTV, Inc., the Association of Public Television Stations (APTS) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). DIRECTV viewers will have access to other Public Television content as well.

Continuing its unprecedented expansion of HD services, DIRECTV, the industry leader in HD programming, will include the local HD feeds of Public Television stations in its HD rollout plans beginning in 2008. DIRECTV currently offers local HD programming in 68 markets, representing more than 72 percent of U.S. TV households.

DIRECTV, APTS and PBS also will work together to develop new video on demand offerings to make available local and national public television programming to DIRECTV's customers anytime they want it. In addition, DIRECTV will carry two national standard-definition channels of Public Television programming, further expanding its commitment to high-quality educational programming.

"We are thrilled to be partnering with APTS and PBS to offer our customers award-winning HD programming from local Public Television stations across the country," said Chase Carey, president and CEO, DIRECTV, Inc. "agreement is the result of a cooperative effort that will utilize innovative technology to deliver the highest quality local content to DIRECTV viewers. DIRECTV is committed to offering the best HD programming lineup available, and we are delighted to begin carrying programs of the caliber of The NewsHour, Frontline, NOVA, American Masters, the American Experience and award-winning children's programming in this visually compelling format."

APTS President & CEO John Lawson said: "This is a forward-looking, innovative agreement for the digital age. It means the great HD programming from PBS and local Public Television stations will be available to DIRECTV customers in every market where DIRECTV carries any local HD. We will also work together to make available a vast library of on demand content from local Public Television stations across the country. This is a great day for public service media in America."

"One of our foremost priorities is extending the quality content that PBS offers across the broadest range of platforms," said PBS President and CEO Paula Kerger. "We are pleased with this agreement, which enables Public Television stations to provide even better service to viewers in their communities."

The terms of the deal were unanimously approved by the APTS Board of Trustees yesterday and are pending approval by the PBS Board of Directors. The agreement must be ratified by local Public Television stations.

Rock Legend Meat Loaf Hosts an Outrageous New Game Show Exclusively for DIRECTV Customers

EL SEGUNDO, Calif., December 19, 2008 — Rock legend Meat Loaf will host Rock & A Hard Place, an all-new original game show featuring classic and current music superstars as they battle it out for charity in the ultimate trivia challenge. The series, which debuts January 23 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on DIRECTV's original entertainment channel, The 101, will showcase music greats including The Pointer Sisters, Warrant, Shelia E., the Pussycat Dolls and others as they test their knowledge on everything from music history to current-events trivia, all in the name of charity.

"Meat Loaf is hilarious and he lets us see a whole new side to these music superstars ," said Eric Shanks, executive vice president, DIRECTV Entertainment. "Music is a big part of The 101 and we couldn't be happier to add this show to our lineup."

The 10-episode series will feature head-to-head competition between two teams of music superstars as they test their worldly wisdom on everything from music history to current events and strange-but-true factoids. Music all-stars Grand Master Flash, Eddie Money, Warrant, Shelia E., The Pointer Sisters, along with industry new-comers The Pussycat Dolls, American Idol contestants, Stars of Track and Field, among others, will be pitted against each other for an all-out brawl of brain power. Each team of contestants will be playing for their own charity, with all the proceeds from the night's winnings going towards their cause.

The show will consist of multiple games in topics ranging from presidential candidates and Jim Morrison to album names and classic songs. Every correct answer earns the teams cash, and all earnings from the night will go towards each teams charity, regardless of whether they win or lose. The team with the most money at the end of the show, wins the game.

Rock & A Hard Place is produced by Blaze Television, the production company behind some of today's largest live music shows, including The 101's DIRECTV SXSW Live and Country Concert.

The Most Important TV Event in the History of Video Games to Air Exclusively on DIRECTV's Channel 101

El Segundo, Calif., December 3, 2007 — DIRECTV, the nation's leading satellite television service provider, is making sports history once again with the exclusive live broadcast of the inaugural Championship Gaming Series (CGS) World Final. The competition will take place December 6-14 at the Sony Studios in Los Angeles where more than 100 of the world's top professional gamers will compete for the league's first-ever World Champion title and a share of the $1,000,000 prize purse. All the action will be captured live and in HD on DIRECTV's original entertainment channel, The 101, starting December 6 at 10pm ET.

"This is the Super Bowl 1 of professional video gaming," said Eric Shanks, executive vice president, DIRECTV Entertainment. "We couldn't be more pleased with year one of the league and the excitement that it has created worldwide."

The CGS World Final will be the first-ever international gaming event to present all the action live, as it happens, allowing fans at home to experience the match-ups like any other sport. The groundbreaking coverage will commence with the start of CGS World Final on December 6 and broadcast three hours of single elimination competitions each night leading up to the championship game on December 14.

The playoffs will feature the top CGS teams from around the world as they compete in PC and console based games. Valve's Counter-Strike®: Source® and EA's FIFA 2007 are the official PC games for CGS while Tecmo's® Dead or Alive® 4 (DOA4) and Project Gotham Racing® 3 (PGR3) from Microsoft Game Studios will be played on Xbox 360. Each round of the World Final is single elimination and the last team standing will receive the coveted Dew Trophy as well as $500,000 in prize money.

In addition to the team playoffs, the World Final will also feature a special "battle of the sexes" DOA4 match-up where Vanessa Arteaga and Ryan "OffBeatNinja" Ward, the top female and male DOA players in the world, will battle it out for supremacy. The contest, dubbed the "Itagaki Challenge," is the brainchild of DOA creator Tomonobu Itagaki, who will preside over the face-off and present the winner with the ultimate DOA prize package, including a ceremonial Japanese Katana sword and a trip to Tokyo. The individual competition will air live on The 101 December 13 at 11:30pm ET.

"We're honored that DOA game creator and international superstar Tomonobu Itagaki recognizes the CGS as the world's leading professional video gaming league in the world," said Andy Reif, CGS commissioner and CEO. "We've set our stake in the ground and proved ourselves as a legitimate sport and look forward to growing the league and esports in the years to come."

In what will become an annual platform for the world's best gamers to compete professionally, the inaugural CGS World Final will be broadcast on television to more than 350 million viewers worldwide by DIRECTV's The 101 in the U.S., BSkyB's Sky One, Sky Two and Sky HD in the UK, ESPN STAR Sports in Asia, SKY in Mexico and Brazil, DIRECTV throughout the rest of Latin America, and across mainland Europe via additional soon-to-be confirmed broadcast partners.

CGS World Final event schedule is as follows:

• December 6: CGS World Final press conference
• December 6: First round day 1
• December 7: First round day 2
• December 10: Quarterfinals day 1
• December 11: Quarterfinals day 2
• December 13: Semifinals & Itagaki Challenge
• December 14: Final

The official CGS teams participating in the World Final are as follows:

• Berlin Allianz
• Birmingham Salvo
• Carolina Core
• Chicago Chimera
• London Mint
• Mexico City Furia
• Rio Sinistro
• Seoul Jinhwa
• Singapore Sword
• Stockholm Magnetik
• Sydney Underground
• Wuhan Dragon

For more information, please go to thecgs.com.

Premiering on Pay Per View in December

The Hoax
Clifford Irving (Richard Gere) is at the center of this fascinating and true media hoax. In 1971, desperate for money, Irving, with the help of Dick Suskind (Alfred Molina), claimed he had Howard Hughes's cooperation to write his autobiography.
Premieres December 1

The Invisible
Before his death, a high school senior is accused of ratting out a tough girl for her role in a jewelry heist. Now, while his body is lying concealed in a sewer tunnel, his spirit is on the loose and the tough girl is the only one "invisible" enough to feel his pain.
Premieres December 1

Sicko
Award-winning director Michael Moore's provocative documentary exposes HMO horror stories as he compares the highly profitable American health care industry to those of other nations.
Premieres December 6

Meet the Robinsons
In this animated sci-fi family film, Lewis, an adopted child genius, has his science fair project ruined by forces from the future. In order to save his adopted family from peril, a strange new friend helps him try to steal his invention back and fix it.
Premieres December 8

Amazing Grace
Behind the song is a story you will never forget. Moved by the efforts of idealist William Wilberforce to end the British transatlantic slave trade, John Newton (Albert Finney) composes a song about his own parallel spiritual journey.
Premieres December 12

Spider-Man 3
A strange black-hearted entity from another world bonds with Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire), causing inner turmoil for him and girlfriend Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst) as he contends with new villains, temptations and revenge.
Premieres December 14

Flakes
A cereal bar manager debates the arcane cereal history and ideal milk/flake ratios with a customer (Zooey Deschanel) and her friends. When their "flakey" idea is ripped off by an eavesdropping aspiring capitalist, they find a way to retaliate.
Premieres December 19

Live Free or Die Hard
Brooklyn cop John McClane (Bruce Willis) must take on an entire Internet-based terrorist organization determined to shut down the United States when more senior cops are given the day off on the 4th of July.
Premieres December 19

Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End
Johnny Depp, Keira Knightly, Orlando Bloom and Geoffrey Rush star in this adventurous saga of pirates who must sail off the edge of the map, navigate treachery and betrayal, and make their final alliances for one last decisive battle.
Premieres December 19

Tony N' Tina's Wedding
Tony and Tina want to get married. Unfortunately, Tony's father and Tina's mother also dated once upon a time. Nervously, Tony and Tina decide to go for the big wedding they both want, which proves to be just as riotous an affair as they expected.
Premieres December 19

Hairspray
John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer, Christopher Walken, Nikki Blonsky and Zak Efron star in this wildly irreverent musical about a plump teenage girl who teaches 1962 Baltimore a thing or two about integration after landing a spot on a local TV dance show.
Premieres December 20

I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry
Adam Sandler and Keven James play two straight, single Brooklyn firefighters pretending to be a gay couple in order to receive domestic partner benefits. Both their friendship and their "marriage" are tested when lawyer (Jessica Biel) takes on their case.
Premieres December 20

The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause
Santa's time at the North Pole is about to go south. This year, Santa (Tim Allen), aka Scott Calvin, is faced with double-duty: how to keep his new family happy—and how to stop Jack Frost from taking over Christmas.
Premieres December 20

Shrek The Third
Now married to Fiona, Shrek is determined not to rule Far Far Away, but when his frogger-in-law, King Harold, suddenly croaks, Shrek is quickly fitted for the crown. Unless the reluctant would-be king can find a suitable replacement fast, he could end up wearing the crown forever.
Premieres December 21

Ratatouille
Remy isn't just any rodent, he's a rat with wildly discriminating tastes and no intention of hanging out in some smelly sewer. Instead he finds a way to become a little chef and the toast of the town.
Premieres December 22

Bratz: The Movie
In this family comedy, based on the popular series of dolls, four best friends in their first year of high school must face off against the domineering student body president who wants to split them up into different social cliques.
Premieres December 26

The Namesake
Gogol (Kal Penn) is the son of Indian immigrants. Desperate to fit in with his fellow New Yorkers, he evades his staunchly traditional family in an attempt to find his own romantic path with mixed results.
Premieres December 26

Waitress
Jenna (Keri Russell) is a pregnant, unhappily married waitress in the deep south hoping to leave her husband by winning cash from a pie-making contest. She meets a newcomer to her town and falls into an unlikely relationship as a last attempt at happiness.
Premieres December 26

Mr. Bean's Holiday
Mr. Bean wins a trip to Cannes. His desire to be filmed somehow manages to unwittingly separate a young boy from his father. Now he must help the two come back together. In the process he discovers France, bicycling and true love, among other things.
Premieres December 27

Who's Your Caddy?
A rap mogul from Atlanta tries to join a conservative country club in the Carolinas. When he runs into fierce opposition from the board president—it turns out to be nothing that he and his entourage can't handle.
Premieres December 27