Thomson SA’s Thomson Consumer Electronics Inc, structured around the old RCA Corp consumer electronics business, launched a digital satellite television service in New York last week and will launch across the US by the end of the month. The service uses an 18 satellite dish, offers 175 channels and costs $700 to $900, plus $6 to $35 a month subscription.The company first started offering the service last December and it already has 200,000 decoders and aerials with retailers, and looks to have built 1m units by the end of the year. It requires a digital receiver and remote control but does not need a special television. The services on offer are those of GM Hughes Electronics Inc’s DirecTV and the United States Satellite Broadcasting Co unit of Hubbard Broadcasting Inc. RCA/Thomson will launch a promotion at the end of October in which it will give away a digital satellite system with the purchase of a $4,000 34 screen television.
