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Nexstar Broadcasting Group inks multiyear retransmission-consent agreements with DirecTV, AT&T U-verse TV.

Satellite television company DirecTV said Wednesday its first-quarter earnings rose 10.4 percent, as it acquired more subscribers in the U.S. and Latin America and customers spent more on high-definition and video recording services.

Gospel Music Channel will crack the DirecTV lineup Wednesday, which, for a 24/7 all-gospel/Christian-music channel, is heavenly timing -- smack dab in the middle of Holy Week.

DirecTV president and CEO Chase Carey said he doesn’t see a lot of immediate change on the horizon since his company’s ownership transfer, but he expects the satellite-TV provider to have a longer leash with new owner Liberty Media as opposed to previous owner News Corp.

Fierce competitors DirecTV and Dish Network teamed up to try and stop the FCC from requiring satellite operators to carry all broadcast HD signals in markets where they carry any of them starting in February 2009.

Currently, satellite operators have to carry all TV stations in any market where they choose to carry at least one.

The FCC is considering extending that to HDTV signals after the transition to digital.

StreetInsider.com Trading Radar: Retail Sales sales and Retail Sales Ex-Autos are due at 8:30AM ET with analysts looking for -0.3% and +0.2%, respectively.

Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) is expected to report results before the open Wednesday with analysts looking for EPS of $0.55 and revenues of $7.01 billion.

Deere (NYSE: DE) is expected to report results before the open Wednesday with analysts looking for EPS of $0.78 and revenues of $5.07 billion.

DIRECTV (NYSE: DTV) is expected to report results before the open Wednesday with analysts looking for EPS of $0.29 and revenues of $4.76 billion.