& #8226;DirecTV Group Inc.

has named Fox Sports Chief Executive David Hill as president of DirecTV Entertainment Group, part of a company streamlining. Hill will be responsible for all aspects of programming at the pay-TV service company and will report to Chief Executive Chase Carey, the El Segundo-based company said Thursday in a statement. DirecTV also named John Suranyi as president of sales and service, and Bruce Churchill as president of DirecTV Latin America and new enterprises.

Hill will continue as chairman of Fox Sports in a non-executive role, DirecTV said. Suranyi was previously DirecTV’s executive vice president of customer satisfaction, and Churchill was chief financial officer of DirecTV and president of DirecTV Latin America. Mike Palkovic, CFO for DirecTV Inc., will now assume CFO responsibilities for the entire DirecTV organization.

& #8226;Guitar Center Inc.

, the Westlake Village-based music retail chain operator said Thursday it anticipated weaker-than-expected first-quarter sales, but backed its earlier earnings target. The company said sales would likely fall at the low end of its previous target of $390.6 million to $399 million. The company also cut its range for same-store sales to 3 percent to 5 percent, down from its earlier target of 4 percent to 6 percent. But Guitar Center stuck with its Feb. 9 estimate, saying it still expects to post earnings of 48 cents to 52 cents per share.

On Wednesday, the company canceled a meeting with investors, leading to speculation that it was planning to announce another acquisition. Guitar Center agreed last month to buy closely held Music & Arts Center, a musical instrument retailer, for about $90 million.

& #8226;ValueClick Inc.

, the Westlake Village-based online advertising services company, said in an SEC filing that it would be late filing its annual report citing a diversion of accounting resources to meet the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Section 404 requires companies to verify the effectiveness of their internal financial controls. The company said it anticipates filing the annual report on or before March 31.

& #8226;Maguire Properties Inc.

, an L.A.-based real estate investment trust, announced Thursday that its board of directors declared a first-quarter 2005 common stock dividend of 40 cents per common share. The dividend is payable on April 30 to shareholders as of March 31. The company also declared a dividend payable on its Series A Preferred Stock for the period of Feb. 1 through April 30 of $0.4766 per preferred share. The dividend is payable on April 30 to preferred shareholders as of March 31.