DirecTV Profit Surges on Accounting Change

DirecTV Group Inc., the country’s largest satellite TV operator, said that second-quarter earnings nearly tripled because of an accounting change and that revenue rose 10%.

But the company’s subscriber growth slowed as it continued to target customers less likely to skip monthly payments and faced tougher competition from cable companies that offer customers a bundled package of TV, phone and high-speed Internet service.

DirecTV, based in El Segundo and controlled by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., said net income rose to $458.7 million, or 36 cents a share, from $161.5 million, or 12 cents, in the year-earlier period. Wall Street had expected profit of 28 cents a share.

Revenue rose 10% to $3.52 billion from $3.19 billion in the year-earlier period.