- - - DirecTV Releases July Subscriber Numbers - - -

DirecTV announced Thursday that its high-power digital satellite television service acquired 122,000 net new customers last month, 52,000 of which are PrimeStar by DirecTV customers.

DirecTV's net new subscribers for July represents another record for the company and a 51 percent increase over July 1998.

So far this year, DirecTV has added about 791,000 customers, bringing the company's total number of subscribers to more than 7.4 million. That number includes former PrimeStar customers who now subscribe to PrimeStar by DirecTV.

- - - CSG Announces Stock Buyback Plan - - -

The Board of Directors of CSG Systems International has approved a stock repurchase plan that authorizes the company to buy up to 5,000,000 shares as market and business conditions warrant.

The announcement comes after CSG shareholders were advised last month to reject an unsolicited takeover by Peachtree Partners. Denver-based CSG Systems provides customer care and billing solutions for converging communications markets worldwide, including cable television, direct broadcast satellite, telephony and on-line businesses.

The buyback plan represents 10 percent of CSG's outstanding shares. CSG Chief Executive Officer Neal Hansen said of the repurchase plan, "We believe that CSG's stock price has been particularly attractive recently. The company's fundamentals are strong and we are aggressively pursuing the opportunities that the changing communications marketplace presents."

- - - DirecTV, Viewers Choice Announce NBA Deals - - -

The National Basketball Association (NBA) and DirecTV announced Thursday that they have extended their existing agreement to deliver subscription package NBA games to DirecTV customers.

DirecTV reports that the agreement gives the company the exclusive satellite distribution rights to deliver NBA League Pass for the next three years. The package features up to 40 regular-season NBA games a week through the 2001-2002 season.

On the cable side, Viewers Choice also announced a NBA League Pass deal Thursday, making that package available to cable and some other satellite TV subscribers.

DirecTV's NBA League Pass for the upcoming season will begin on Nov. 2 and is priced at $169 for a residential subscription. The company offers an early-bird price of $149 for subscribers who sign up before Sept. 30.

- - - Sony Pictures Finalizes Interactive TV Deal - - -

Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) and Mixed Signal Technologies (MST) finalized their previously- announced agreement this week to develop interactive television programming.

Mixed Signals, a two-year-old California company, has developed technology that encodes information into an analog or digital television stream. Other entertainment companies that Mixed Signals has worked on interactive programming with include Disney, NBC, The Sci-Fi Channel, The Weather Channel and EchoStar.

Richard Glosser, president of Columbia TriStar Interactive, said the Sony/Mixed Signals deal will allow the company link the broadcast and online worlds. "The end result will not only be a unique and completely engaging experience for the viewer," he said, "but a new benchmark for the industry."

- - - PROGRAMMING: - - -

• SkyView Restructures Lineup -
  SkyView World Media, a provider of foreign-language ethnic media services, announced this week that it has restructured its programming lineup to focus the company's resources on the services that have the strongest long-term revenue and profit potential. The new SkyView lineup is comprised of ten television stations and two radio services in six languages comprise: Arabic, Chinese, Greek, Russian, Asian/Indian and Vietnamese. The company is discontinuing its services in Italian, Filipino, Ukrainian and Polish.

• Encore Premieres Hitchcock Special -
  Encore Media Group and Universal Television Enterprises have announced the world premiere of "Dial H for Hitchcock: The Genius Behind the Showman," an original production honoring Alfred Hitchcock. The special will be shown on the 100th anniversary of Hitchcock's birth, Friday the 13th of August, at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Encore.

• Joyner Kersee Profile on ESPN Tonight -
  ESPN will present a 30-minte profile on the life and career of Jackie Joyner-Kersee tonight at 10:30 p.m. As part of the network's SportCentury project, Joyner-Kersee was selected as the No. 23 greatest North American athlete of the 20th century. The profile of her is part of 49 weekly programs counting down the century's 50 greatest athletes. ESPN also announced this week that the station is now available in 65 million homes and that ESPN@ is the 19th most widely-distributed of the cable networks that have launched since 1990.

• Showtime Launches WhirlGirl Campaign -
  Showtime has launched a new ad campaign for the network's exclusive, weekly online series "WhirlGirl," which premiered in February. The print, outdoor and web advertising will target the Generation Y audience. The WhirlGirl series features the adventures of Kia Cross, a 21st-century freedom fighter. New episodes of the program premiere every Friday at 1 p.m. on SHO.com.