Satellite TV provider DirecTV is getting ready to launch a broadband-video service stocked with 2,000 titles, it was reported Thursday. DirectTV customers will be able to order movies “on demand” via their digital video recorders, DVRs, or on the Internet, and then watch the movies they have downloaded on their DVRs, DirecTV officials told investors in New York Wednesday. It won’t be streaming real-time, but “it’ll be faster than Netflix,” DirecTV’s Eric Shanks was quoted as saying in the Wall Street Journal. Because satellite TV does not have the technology to compete with cable TV’s video-on-demand service, DirecTV is turning to interactive applications, such as the broadband-video service, the Journal said. DirecTV said about 5 million of its customers use broadband to link to the Internet. Customers will need an existing broadband provider and a premium DirecTV box to use the new service. BellSouth Corp., Verizon Communications Inc. and Qwest Communications International Inc. all offer bundled phone, DirecTV and Internet services. DirecTV also has a partnership with Internet-service provider EarthLink Inc. © Copyright 2006 by United Press International

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