I wanted to contribute and thought of something new that may be liked, and well, I guess may not be liked 
Anyway, I thought a summary of quotes from the investor call that pertained to the sub may be of interest, so here goes:
The majority of the call was Chase Carey, D* CEO, who also received a 3 year contract extension today.
Transcript of quotes from: Earnings Call Transcript
I'll try to organize them for you:
THE COMING HD EXPANSION:
Everything is going well with our new satellite, which launched about a month or so ago.
{Costs} In terms of HD rollout, it will not have an impact. We are looking to get the HD channels as part of what we would expect as part of a relationship on the standard def channels, so we do not -- we will not have a programming cost increase related to HD.
{Channel Agreements } Today we have agreements in place with about 90 channels, and continuing to work on more so we are adding to that. We will launch with an HD package with over 70 channels around the end of the third quarter. Again, the difference there is some of the channels need a couple more months to get their HD stream online, and we do expect over the coming months, between the end of the third quarter and the end of the year, we’ll get to the 100 channels that we talked about. So we will launch with really a fabulous HD package, the 70-plus channels and then over a couple of months build to the 100 channels that really we think will define us in a unique way competitively in the marketplace.
The first part we said the satellite that is up will get us something like 70 at launch, 100 by the end of the year. The second satellite, which will go up in the second half of the year, will give us the full capacity we talked about of 150 channels, plus a ton of local markets, virtually all of them if we chose to. So that hasn’t changed and that will be where we will be kind of the middle of next year on a capacity standpoint.
{No significant increase in programming costs for D* to provide us more HD}
In terms of HD rollout, it will not have an impact. We are looking to get the HD channels as part of what we would expect as part of a relationship on the standard def channels, so we do not -- we will not have a programming cost increase related to HD.
VOD:
The other major content event during the second half will be the launch of our initial VOD offer in the fall. This VOD offer, which will use both the hard drive and broadband connection, and will be we think really will be a truly distinctive and exciting new feature. We believe customers will find its easy-to-use characteristics, which is something we focused a lot on, and attractively packaged offering will really be uniquely attractive and differentiated from others out there.
What it really is going to be, from a broadband perspective, is a product that is much more integrated into the television. I mean, you can get products -- it is going to integrate the broadband and our product, we’re going to push down to the disc, integrate it into the guide and integrate it into the customer experience in a different way, in a much more user-friendly and easy-to-access way. That really is what it does, is it takes it, and as opposed to being able to get it and then figure out how you get it, it is going to really take those offerings and put them on the screen, make them available to our customers in a way that they can get at it just like they get at channels today, and promote it and package it in a way that is truly attractive to them and educate consumers on it. So it will really become a much more, for the customers that get it a much more central, sort of core part of the DIRECTV experience for the customers who value that.
it’s probably enriched from today but it is an ongoing process. And ultimately through the -- you’ve got a lot of -- you have lots, you have hundreds of titles. I don’t know, maybe -- but it is a wide, wide range of selection.
Again, what we are trying to do, and I think it is the right way, is I think right now VOD is not a very -- I don’t think the way VOD has been done, it has been done with a prioritization of sort of ease of use and consumer friendliness. It’s sort of been there, go find it. What we are going to try and do is package, present, and organize this in a way that is much more user-friendly and therefore it is one that consumers find, as they try to learn how to use it, a much more rewarding experience but with a rich, with a truly rich set of choices but one that you can whip through and figure out what do you really want to watch.
EQUIPMENT:
{Advanced equip means SD DVR, HD, and HD-DVR}
if you take the number of new customers taking an advance product in Q207, it was more than 70% greater than those that were taking it Q206.
the number of existing customers upgrading to an HD DVR in Q207 was up almost four-fold versus a year ago.
Between now and year end, the HD DVR box cost will decrease about $100 per box. The HD box cost will reduce about $50 per box before year end {Not indicative of a price reduction, this is their cost reduction}
COMPETITION:
Looking toward the second half of 2007, clearly our headline event will be our launch of really what will be the best and largest selection of HD channels that customers ever imagined, which will really enable us to leapfrog our competition. Everything is going well with our new satellite, which launched about a month or so ago.
There is no question it’s an increasingly competitive marketplace but we really feel good about where we are positioned and think we’ve got a lot of wind at our back as we go forward competing in the marketplace.
In terms of Dish and DIRECTV {working together}, I’m not sure there’s a whole lot of insight to give. We have been talking to Dish, certainly not just the last few quarters but the last couple of years. We’ve done a few, we’ve done some things that we haven’t -- we back {haul} -- a fair number of standard def signals to get today.
I don’t think this is a dramatic change and I think it’s really just part of an ongoing process
HOMEZONE type products:
I mean, the set-top box exists today so it is really working through some of the software and working through some of the distribution issues with some of our partners. But I think from a technological perspective, the box is really a box we could deploy in the next quarter. So it is really more probably the logistics around the distribution of the box with the appropriate partners to make it happen.
But our boxes are going to have, like VOD, which we are launching in the next couple of months, will in essence have broadband connectivity to it. We have set-top boxes that can integrate a PC and a TV today.
In many ways, the technological and software issues around it are largely there. It is really probably more working through the business issues around distribution with an array of partners.
OTHER:
Retention and upgrade spending was down significantly from the first quarter of ’07 {There were less D* giving me the farm threads this quarter}
{Success of their marketing campaign in prep for the HD launch:}
In terms of HD, look, I think the campaign we have launched -- I mean, it’s been to really communicate to the marketplace what we had coming in HD has been successful. I mean, and I think to some degree, I guess a best estimate would be to the degree you look at how our competitors have spent an awful lot of energy in the last three or four months trying to refute or muddy the waters about the advantages we are going to have. So I think it has been successful. I think it is tough to track.
Source: DIRECTV Investor Relations
Anyway, I thought a summary of quotes from the investor call that pertained to the sub may be of interest, so here goes:
The majority of the call was Chase Carey, D* CEO, who also received a 3 year contract extension today.
Transcript of quotes from: Earnings Call Transcript
I'll try to organize them for you:
THE COMING HD EXPANSION:
Everything is going well with our new satellite, which launched about a month or so ago.
{Costs} In terms of HD rollout, it will not have an impact. We are looking to get the HD channels as part of what we would expect as part of a relationship on the standard def channels, so we do not -- we will not have a programming cost increase related to HD.
{Channel Agreements } Today we have agreements in place with about 90 channels, and continuing to work on more so we are adding to that. We will launch with an HD package with over 70 channels around the end of the third quarter. Again, the difference there is some of the channels need a couple more months to get their HD stream online, and we do expect over the coming months, between the end of the third quarter and the end of the year, we’ll get to the 100 channels that we talked about. So we will launch with really a fabulous HD package, the 70-plus channels and then over a couple of months build to the 100 channels that really we think will define us in a unique way competitively in the marketplace.
The first part we said the satellite that is up will get us something like 70 at launch, 100 by the end of the year. The second satellite, which will go up in the second half of the year, will give us the full capacity we talked about of 150 channels, plus a ton of local markets, virtually all of them if we chose to. So that hasn’t changed and that will be where we will be kind of the middle of next year on a capacity standpoint.
{No significant increase in programming costs for D* to provide us more HD}
In terms of HD rollout, it will not have an impact. We are looking to get the HD channels as part of what we would expect as part of a relationship on the standard def channels, so we do not -- we will not have a programming cost increase related to HD.
VOD:
The other major content event during the second half will be the launch of our initial VOD offer in the fall. This VOD offer, which will use both the hard drive and broadband connection, and will be we think really will be a truly distinctive and exciting new feature. We believe customers will find its easy-to-use characteristics, which is something we focused a lot on, and attractively packaged offering will really be uniquely attractive and differentiated from others out there.
What it really is going to be, from a broadband perspective, is a product that is much more integrated into the television. I mean, you can get products -- it is going to integrate the broadband and our product, we’re going to push down to the disc, integrate it into the guide and integrate it into the customer experience in a different way, in a much more user-friendly and easy-to-access way. That really is what it does, is it takes it, and as opposed to being able to get it and then figure out how you get it, it is going to really take those offerings and put them on the screen, make them available to our customers in a way that they can get at it just like they get at channels today, and promote it and package it in a way that is truly attractive to them and educate consumers on it. So it will really become a much more, for the customers that get it a much more central, sort of core part of the DIRECTV experience for the customers who value that.
it’s probably enriched from today but it is an ongoing process. And ultimately through the -- you’ve got a lot of -- you have lots, you have hundreds of titles. I don’t know, maybe -- but it is a wide, wide range of selection.
Again, what we are trying to do, and I think it is the right way, is I think right now VOD is not a very -- I don’t think the way VOD has been done, it has been done with a prioritization of sort of ease of use and consumer friendliness. It’s sort of been there, go find it. What we are going to try and do is package, present, and organize this in a way that is much more user-friendly and therefore it is one that consumers find, as they try to learn how to use it, a much more rewarding experience but with a rich, with a truly rich set of choices but one that you can whip through and figure out what do you really want to watch.
EQUIPMENT:
{Advanced equip means SD DVR, HD, and HD-DVR}
if you take the number of new customers taking an advance product in Q207, it was more than 70% greater than those that were taking it Q206.
the number of existing customers upgrading to an HD DVR in Q207 was up almost four-fold versus a year ago.
Between now and year end, the HD DVR box cost will decrease about $100 per box. The HD box cost will reduce about $50 per box before year end {Not indicative of a price reduction, this is their cost reduction}
COMPETITION:
Looking toward the second half of 2007, clearly our headline event will be our launch of really what will be the best and largest selection of HD channels that customers ever imagined, which will really enable us to leapfrog our competition. Everything is going well with our new satellite, which launched about a month or so ago.
There is no question it’s an increasingly competitive marketplace but we really feel good about where we are positioned and think we’ve got a lot of wind at our back as we go forward competing in the marketplace.
In terms of Dish and DIRECTV {working together}, I’m not sure there’s a whole lot of insight to give. We have been talking to Dish, certainly not just the last few quarters but the last couple of years. We’ve done a few, we’ve done some things that we haven’t -- we back {haul} -- a fair number of standard def signals to get today.
I don’t think this is a dramatic change and I think it’s really just part of an ongoing process
HOMEZONE type products:
I mean, the set-top box exists today so it is really working through some of the software and working through some of the distribution issues with some of our partners. But I think from a technological perspective, the box is really a box we could deploy in the next quarter. So it is really more probably the logistics around the distribution of the box with the appropriate partners to make it happen.
But our boxes are going to have, like VOD, which we are launching in the next couple of months, will in essence have broadband connectivity to it. We have set-top boxes that can integrate a PC and a TV today.
In many ways, the technological and software issues around it are largely there. It is really probably more working through the business issues around distribution with an array of partners.
OTHER:
Retention and upgrade spending was down significantly from the first quarter of ’07 {There were less D* giving me the farm threads this quarter
}{Success of their marketing campaign in prep for the HD launch:}
In terms of HD, look, I think the campaign we have launched -- I mean, it’s been to really communicate to the marketplace what we had coming in HD has been successful. I mean, and I think to some degree, I guess a best estimate would be to the degree you look at how our competitors have spent an awful lot of energy in the last three or four months trying to refute or muddy the waters about the advantages we are going to have. So I think it has been successful. I think it is tough to track.
Source: DIRECTV Investor Relations
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