DIRECTV Begins Offering Local Broadcast Network Channels in Kansas City, Mo.; Customers to Receive Local Channels via Satellite beginning Today.

Business/Entertainment Editors

EL SEGUNDO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 13, 2000

DIRECTV, Inc., provider of the nation's leading digital television service, announced today the availability of local broadcast network channels via satellite for its DIRECTV(R) customers in Kansas City, Mo.

Beginning today, all DIRECTV customers in the Kansas City designated market area (DMA) will receive a free preview of their local broadcast network channel package.

DIRECTV customers in the Kansas City DMA can subscribe to a local channel package that includes KMBC (ABC), KSHB (NBC), WDAF (FOX) and KCTV (CBS). DIRECTV customers can subscribe to their local channel package for $5.99 per month. In addition to local broadcast network channels, a national PBS feed is included in each local channel package at no additional charge.

To receive local channels from the Kansas City area, existing DIRECTV customers, as well as new customers, will require a new DIRECTV PLUS(TM) System capable of receiving satellite signals from two orbital locations. To date, DIRECTV(R) programming has been delivered to the Kansas City area from one orbital location only. DIRECTV multi-satellite-capable equipment is available at authorized retail locations.

The DIRECTV PLUS(TM) System contains a multi-satellite receiver, an 18-by-24-inch oval satellite dish and a remote control. Local channels are being delivered to DIRECTV customers in Kansas City from DIRECTV, Inc.'s 119-degree West Longitude (WL) orbital slot. The DIRECTV PLUS(TM) System allows consumers to receive programming from multiple orbital locations, which provides access to their local channels in addition to all of the core DIRECTV(R) programming from its 101-degree WL orbital slot.

"The availability of local channels ushers in a new era for DIRECTV, and we are excited to commence our local channel offerings in Kansas City," said Stephanie A. Campbell, senior vice president, Programming for DIRECTV, Inc. "By offering local channels on DIRECTV, our customers can access entertainment and information that's most relevant to their lives and their community. Now is as good a time as any for consumers in Kansas City to cut cable and choose DIRECTV as their source for home entertainment."

Local Kansas City channels from DIRECTV are available in the following counties:

Kansas:
Anderson          Franklin            Linn
Atchison          Johnson             Miami
Douglas           Leavenworth         Wyandotte

Missouri:
Bates             Clinton             Henry                Livingston
Caldwell          Daviess             Jackson              Pettis
Carroll           Gentry              Johnson              Platte
Cass              Grundy              Lafayette            Ray
Clay              Harrison            Linn                 Saline

DIRECTV is supporting its local-into-local offerings in Kansas City with marketing, point-of-sale and advertising campaigns in coordination with its extensive network of consumer electronics retailing partners and affiliate satellite dealers.

DIRECTV now has more than 8.7 million customers, including customers subscribing to the medium-power PRIMESTAR By DIRECTV service. DIRECTV is a registered trademark of DIRECTV, Inc., a unit of Hughes Electronics Corporation. Hughes Electronics is the world's leading provider of digital television entertainment, and satellite and wireless systems and services. The earnings of Hughes Electronics, a unit of General Motors Corporation, are used to calculate the earnings per share attributable to the General Motors Class H common stock (NYSE: GMH). Visit DIRECTV on the World Wide Web at WWW.DIRECTV.COM.