DirecTV for Business Deploys Its First Ever Commercial Use-Only Satellite Receiver

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DirecTV's bars and restaurants unit, which had been getting by with refurbished residential H24 and H25 boxes for over a decade, finally gets its own dedicated CPE, the H26K

DirecTV H26K satellite receiver
(Image credit: DirecTV)

DirecTV has announced the deployment of the first satellite receiver built exclusively for its commercial DirecTV for Business customers, the H26K. 

Starting with the launch of its bars and restaurants unit in the 1990s, DirecTV simply reprogrammed its residential receivers for its business clients. But it got complicated in 2012, when the pay TV company introduced its Genie line of server-to-client devices, which were unfit for commercial deployment. 

Here's DirecTV's press release.

For the last decade, DirecTV for Business got by on older refurbished H24 and H25 receivers, at least until last year when a stopgap device, the H44, was introduced. 

The diminutive H26K (Dimensions: 6.5 inches by 7.375 inches by 1.25 inches) offers DirecTV business customers a stackable, 4K-ready, wired-Ethernet-capable, fan-free device that’s available in an iteration they haven't had for a while _ that is, new instead of refurbished. 

The H26K has the same basic UX as the residentially bound Genie, but includes features like GameSearch, which searches for all possible available destinations of a program (i.e. the big game). This is useful for local blackouts. GameSearch will also find out if there are any 4K channels that have the event. 

Satellite TV gear dealer Solid Signal said the H26K is the fastest receiver it has ever tested. 

“Launching the first-ever DirecTV commercial set top box is a win for our company and customers,” Steve Loop, VP of product marketing for DirecTV, said in a statement. “We remain dedicated to providing market-leading products and services for our DirecTV for Business customers.”

With DirecTV spun off from AT&T two years ago and now under the control of private equity firm TPG Capital, its business unit seems to be getting some additional water. 

While DirecTV demurred on renewing its multibillion-dollar deal to carry NFL Sunday Ticket for its residential base, it signed an agreement in March with EverPass Media Reach to keep the out-of-market games package for its business customers.

This followed commercial-unit sports licensing deals with Apple for MLS Season Pass and Amazon for NFL Thursday Night Football. 

Daniel Frankel
Daniel Frankel

Daniel Frankel is the managing editor of Next TV, an internet publishing vertical focused on the business of video streaming. A Los Angeles-based writer and editor who has covered the media and technology industries for more than two decades, Daniel has worked on staff for publications including E! Online, Electronic Media, Mediaweek, Variety, paidContent and GigaOm. You can start living a healthier life with greater wealth and prosperity by following Daniel on Twitter today!