Offers “Immaculate Reception” for Football Fans; New Premium Tier Features Eight Games on One Screen, Red Zone Channel, Single Games in 30 Minutes and More Than 100 HD Games
EL SEGUNDO, Calif, Aug. 1, 2005 For NFL fans who dream of Sundays saturated with football coverage in high-definition, multiple games on one screen, wall-to-wall game highlights and a plethora of statistics — all at the touch of their fingertips — DIRECTV has a wake-up call.
The nation’s leading provider of digital television service unveiled its exclusive 2005 NFL SUNDAY TICKET™ package and the innovative new NFL SUNDAY TICKET™ SuperFan, a new premium tier that offers interactive and time-altering technology designed to create an edge-of-the-sofa NFL viewing experience for die-hard football fans.
The introduction of the new NFL SUNDAY TICKET SuperFan, featuring an interactive mix of eight games on one screen, a unique “Red Zone” highlight channel, the ability to view an entire game in 30 minutes, and high-definition (HD) broadcasts, represents another step in DIRECTV’s evolution toward a fully integrated and interactive home entertainment experience, now spearheaded by DIRECTV Entertainment President David Hill — one of sports broadcasting’s most prominent innovators.
“Over the past decade, NFL SUNDAY TICKET has stood apart as the ultimate product for sports fans who are passionate about the NFL and now we are giving football fans the ultimate NFL viewing experience,” said Hill. “With the innovations in the SuperFan option we’re taking the NFL viewing experience into another dimension, giving fans an exhilarating new sense of what it is to watch America’s most compelling sport through the prism of interactive and time-altering technology. NFL SUNDAY TICKET SuperFan is a dream come true for football fans. And this is just the beginning of many innovations to come both in sports and general entertainment programming at DIRECTV that will provide our customers with greater choice and control over their TV experience.”
NFL SUNDAY TICKET™ SuperFan is available to 2005 NFL SUNDAY TICKET customers for an additional $99, and will offer the following features:
- NFL SUNDAY TICKET™ Game Mix channels – two interactive channels (702-703) allow fans to view eight NFL SUNDAY TICKET game broadcasts on one screen. With Game Mix, customers with DIRECTV interactive receivers can use their remote to select and highlight specific games and watch them full-screen, then return to the eight-game “mix” format at the push of the remote button.
- NFL SUNDAY TICKET™ Red Zone Channel – a channel devoted to up-to-the-minute highlights, combined with live-action of critical plays and moments from NFL SUNDAY TICKET game broadcasts. The Red Zone Channel provides NFL SUNDAY TICKET customers with a single destination to catch big plays and significant moments from games broadcast by FOX Sports every Sunday during the regular season.
- NFL SUNDAY TICKET™ Short Cuts – edited versions of NFL game broadcasts, allowing an entire game to be viewed in 30 minutes or less. NFL SUNDAY TICKET Short Cuts eliminate all extensive breaks in game action, including commercials and timeouts. Short Cuts will run on channels 701-704. The edited format of Short Cuts is similar to the format NFL teams use for “game film,” typically used following a game to analyze the team and its players’ overall performance.
- NFL SUNDAY TICKET broadcasts in HD – NFL SUNDAY TICKET customers who purchase SuperFan and have DIRECTV HD equipment will have access to more than 100 NFL SUNDAY TICKET broadcasts in HD.
In addition to unveiling the new 2005 NFL SUNDAY TICKET™ SuperFan, DIRECTV announced its 2005 fall offer, once again highlighted by the exclusive NFL SUNDAY TICKET package of out-of-market NFL regular season broadcasts.
New DIRECTV residential customers who purchase the NFL SUNDAY TICKET package for $279.96 will receive four free months of the best DIRECTV programming package, TOTAL CHOICE PREMIER, a value of more than $375. The DIRECTV Fall offer is also available to new customers who subscribe to the DIRECTV PARA TODOS™ Spanish-language service.
To qualify for the DIRECTV Fall offer, new customers must:
- Get a DIRECTV System from a participating retailer before Nov. 5, 2005.
- Activate 2005 NFL SUNDAY TICKET at the retail offer price of $279.96 (or four payments of $69.99), and DIRECTV’s TOTAL CHOICE PREMIER or OPCION PREMIER programming package within 30 days of equipment purchase.
- Commit to one year of any TOTAL CHOICE package at $41.99 per month or OPCION EXTRA™ at $29.99 per month.
The former chairman and CEO of FOX Sports, Hill was responsible for a host of innovations in sports broadcasting, including the yellow first-down marker visible on the field in NFL broadcasts and the statistical inset box, featuring game scores, game clock and other information now standard in FOX NFL and Major League Baseball broadcasts. Once again, Hill is pushing the envelope on broadcast innovation at DIRECTV with the new NFL SUNDAY TICKET SuperFan enhancements.
NFL SUNDAY TICKET subscribers have the choice of nearly every NFL game on Sundays during the regular season (blackout restrictions and other conditions apply) on channels 704-718. NFL SUNDAY TICKET is not available on cable or through any other multichannel television service.
DIRECTV is the nation’s leading digital multichannel television service provider with more than 14.4 million customers. DIRECTV and the Cyclone Design logo are registered trademarks of DIRECTV, Inc. (NYSE:DTV). DIRECTV is a world-leading provider of digital multichannel television entertainment. DIRECTV is approximately 34 percent owned by News Corporation. For more information visit http://www.directv.com.
