DirecTV Freezes Hiring, Most CapEx

DirecTV Group said it will freeze hiring in 2009 and suspend all but the most critical capital projects, the Associated Press reported.

At the 36th Annual UBS Global Media and Communications Conference in New York Tuesday, DirecTV remained upbeat nonetheless.

"Despite the slowing economy, we remain quite bullish about 2009 to date. The economy has not had a material impact on our business," said Jonathan Rubin, senior vice president of financial planning and investor relations, according to the AP. "If things get really bad, we suspect we might be hurt less than others due to our tight credit policies."

AP said the company plans to continue to press its HD offerings, since over the next three years about 40 million U.S. households are expected to sign up for HD.

Also, according to the Charlotte Observer and the Web site ThatsRacin.com, DirecTV is also scrapping its “Hot Pass” NASCAR pay-per-view offering next year. The paper said members of the “Hot Pass” production group were told of the move Tuesday. A NASCAR spokesman confirmed there would be changes to the offering, according to the newspaper.

“Hot Pass” gave viewers access to special features and dedicated up to 10 DirecTV channels to the sport.