DirecTV CEO Mike White is predicting the satellite TV provider will gain 200,000 subscribers in the final quarter of the year, pushing it over the 19 million mark and said the company would look to keep subscriber growth rolling by testing a lower-priced tier to its offering next year in selected rural areas that would, obviously, offer fewer channels.
White said the operator expected to reach 30 million subs by the end of 2013 in the U.S. and Latin America; the company currently has some 27 million customers in the two markets.
Although cable providers have seen large number of subscriber defection in the past two quarters, some 741,000 in Q3, and 714,000 in Q2, their worst quarters ever, satellite and IPTV providers have continued to grow.
Satellite's growth, White said, may in part be due to the nature of its subscribers, which tend to be on the higher end of the economic spectrum. White said keeping lower tier subscribers has been difficult for all segments of the pay-TV industry, noting that "the bottom end of the pyramid is a challenge."
White said DirecTV expects revenue of some $24 billion this year, and is targeting $30 billion for 2013.
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