DirecTV Group
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DirecTV Group Inc. is an American direct broadcast satellite television company formerly known as Hughes Electronics. Its stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "DTV."
Hughes Electronics was formed when Howard Hughes' Hughes Aircraft Company was sold to General Motors and merged with their Delco Electronics unit in 1985. This group then consisted of:
- Hughes Aircraft
- Delco Electronics
- Hughes Space and Communications
- Hughes Network Systems
- and from August 1992 General Dynamics' Missile Systems business.
In 1994 Hughes Electronics founded DirecTV. In 1997 GM transferred Delco Electronics to its Delphi Automotive Systems business. Late in the year the defense operations of Hughes Electronics (Hughes Aircraft and missile business) were merged with Raytheon. The remaing companies remained under the Hughes Electronics name and within GM.
In 1996 Hughes Electronics and PanAmSat agreed to merge their fixed satellite services into a new publicly held company, also called PanAmSat with Hughes Electronics as majority shareholder. The corporation sold its commercial satellite manufacturing business to Boeing in 2000, now renamed Boeing Satellite Systems.
The remainder of the company, DirecTV, DirecTV Latin America, PanAmSat and Hughes Network Systems were sold by GM to News Corporation in December 2003. This group was renamed the DirecTV Group within the Fox Entertainment Group. PanAmSat was sold to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. in August 2004.
Corporate divisions
- DirecTV - U.S. pay TV service
- DirecTV Latin America
- Hughes Network Systems - satellite-based broadband internet service provider