DirecTV, a unit of Hughes Electronics [NYSE: HS], achieved its highest quarterly subscriber growth by connecting 861,000 total customers during the fourth quarter. This translates into 405,000 net new subscribers after monthly churn is factored in.

The robust growth help DirecTV to boost its new customer total by 39 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2002. For all of 2003, DirecTV set a record by adding slightly more than 3 million total subscribers and close 1.2 million net new customers after accounting for churn.

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