DirecTV Inc. said it has joined forces with TNS Media Research to develop a national audience measurement panel of its subscribers.

El Segundo-based DirecTV, which is currently the largest provider of satellite TV in the country, said that the panel will be the largest ever with 100,000 current DirecTV customers, putting the deal in direct competition with Nielsen’s TV measurement business, DirecTV said in a statement.

TNS will use data from the set-top boxes of the 100,000 DirecTV customers nationwide to gather data about the customer’s viewing patterns by directly recording them via the cable box. The new partnership is called the TNS DirecTView.

Shares in DirecTV were off 1.1 percent to $22.08 in early trading Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange.