Missoula competing for Direct TV call center
 

Direct TV hopes new call centers - like the one that may bring 800 jobs to Missoula - can help give the company a competitive edge against rival satellite and cable companies, said industry analysts and a company spokesman. The El Segundo, Calif.-based satellite giant has been negotiating for months with Missoula County about the possibility of opening and operating a call center at the county development park near Missoula International Airport.

“We're continuing our evaluation of Missoula and hope to reach a decision soon,” said Direct TV spokesman Robert Mercer.If the company, which is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol DTV, comes to Missoula, it could eventually hire up to 800 full-time employees, said Dick King, president of the Missoula Area Economic Development Corp. Last July, when discussing the possibility of Direct TV's arrival, King said the jobs would start at around USD.9 per hour and would include health and dental benefits as well as a retirement package and tuition reimbursements.

Another city has been competing with Missoula for the Direct TV call center. Direct TV representatives never revealed the name of Missoula's rival, but the company did reveal the other town's financial incentives.A balance sheet showed the other town's offer was about USD.8 million sweeter, King said, including a free building and quite a bit of money. King countered by asking Missoula County to build a USD.12 million building at the Missoula County Development Park that would be owned by the county and leased to Direct TV.

The terms of the lease are part of the negotiation process, King said. King also has asked that Direct TV be given some tax incentives. In addition, the state Department of Commerce has money available for employee training. The proposed call center is part of an overall strategy of the company to rely on more in-house customer support, Mercer said.

In 2004, Direct TV opened call centers in Tulsa, Okla., and Huntsville, Ala. The company also operates a 1,300-employee call center in Boise, Idaho. In all, Direct TV has about 6,000 employees. Customer service has been a sore spot for Direct TV's top officials, according to Direct TV's 2004 annual report, and the new call centers are expected to help change that. In 2003, a controlling interest in Direct TV was purchased by News Corp., which also owns the Fox broadcast network and the 20th Century Fox movie studios.

The prolonged sale weakened Direct TV, the report said. In 2004, Direct TV executives revamped the business structure and sold off non-core portions of the company, such as PanAmSat Corp. and a manufacturing operation. Direct TV also improved its satellite system and signed up 4.2 million customers, bringing the total subscriber count to more than 14 million households, the report said. But customer churn and higher-than-expected program costs have hurt the company's bottom line in 2005, said New York-based UBS analyst Aryeh Bourkoff in a report on Direct TV.

Direct TV had signed up too many high-risk customers. Some of those customers had to cancel service, and that costs Direct TV money, said analyst Matt Harrigan of Janco Partners. “That's detrimental. That's not a good business model,” Harrigan said. To counter that trend, the company has tightened up its credit requirements for subscribers, Mercer said. That's also where the call centers come in. “A satisfied customer is a long-term customer. ... Call centers perform that function for us,” he said.

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