 On January 9, 2007, DirecTV announced they would introduce up to 100 national HD channels during 2007, all of which would be MPEG-4 encoded.On October 3, 2008, DirecTV announced that it would offer HD local channels in 121 markets by the end of the year.In December 2006, News Corporation announced its intention to transfer its 38.5% controlling interest in The DirecTV Group, four regional Fox Sports Net stations and $550 million cash to Liberty Media in exchange for Liberty's 19% interest in News Corp., giving the Murdoch family tighter control of the latter firm.