Stern Leaves DirecTV

DirecTV Inc. said president and CEO Mitch Stern is leaving the company after just one year on the job.

The top direct-broadcast satellite firm said News Corp. veteran Chase Carey, president and CEO of DirecTV Group Inc., will oversee day-to-day operations at DirecTV, and the company won’t replace Stern.

Carey, former co-chief operating officer at News Corp., was named CEO of DirecTV Group in December 2003.

“It was a mutual decision between Mitch and Chase for Mitchell to leave the company,” DirecTV spokesman Bob Marsocci said.

Stern’s DirecTV employment contract -- on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission -- wasn’t set to expire until Dec. 31, 2007. Stern earned an annual base salary of $2 million, plus annual target bonuses of $2 million, according to the contract.