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Primestarright PrimeStar is a now-defunct U.S. direct broadcast satellite organization formed in 1992. PrimeStar was the first DBS system in the United States but slowly declined in popularity with the arrival of DirecTV in 1994 and DISH Network in 1996. PrimeStar, unlike modern high-powered DBS systems, was a medium-powered DBS system that used a larger 3-foot (91 cm) satellite dish to receive signals. Unlike DirecTV, PrimeStar was owned by a consortium of cable television companies and the viewer did not own their equipment (the participating cable company did). PrimeStar was also more limited in its ability to add new channels to its system. PrimeStar used the older DigiCipher 1 for digital compression of analog satellite signals. PrimeStar Partners sold its assets to Hughes (former parent company of DirecTV) in 1999 and the service was shut off. An interesting after-effect of PrimeStar's demise is that a large quantity of old PrimeStar satellite dishes still exist and are popular among satellite TV hobbyists.
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