Indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: Satellite television provider, Direc TV in a regulatory filing on Friday said that it may take up to $1.6 billion in pre - tax charges to write down the value of satellites it would use for broadcasting instead of high-speed data services.

Apparently in September, this US satellite television provider, said that it would be using two satellites which were then under construction and other related assets to expand its programming capacity, particularly for high-definition television.

The Spaceway satellites originally had been earmarked for high-speed Internet services. The change in strategy has led the company to review its book value of the satellites.

The company expects to record a pre-tax charge of about $1.4 billion to $1.6 billion in the third quarter, according to the filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

DirecTV is controlled by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. through the Fox Entertainment Group.