Local Channels on DIRECTV
A law recently passed by the U.S. Congress allows
us to offer local television channels to selected areas.
DIRECTV will expand their offering to more cities
over the next few months. Eligible customers can order their local channel
package for $5.99 a month.
DIRECTV is now serving these areas:
Atlanta, GA
Boston, MA
Chicago, IL
Cleveland, OH
Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX
Denver, CO
Detroit, MI
Houston, TX
Los Angeles, CA
Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN
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New York, NY
Orlando/Daytona, FL
Philadelphia, PA
Phoenix, AZ
Sacramento/Stockton, CA
St. Louis, MO
San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose, CA
Seattle/Tacoma, WA
Tampa/St. Petersburg, FL
Washington, D.C.
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If you live in one of these cities, you can receive your favorite network programming using the DIRECTV System you have now. And you'll find those local network services in the same convenient on-screen program guide as your DIRECTV channels!
DIRECTV is
also offering local channel service to residents of Raleigh/Durham, NC, and Greenville, SC. If you live in one of these areas, you now have access to local channels from
their satellite at the 110-degree West Longitude (WL) orbital position. That means you'll need a DIRECTV PLUSTM System, along with a 110o LNB for the DIRECTV PLUSTM System manufactured by Channel Master. Though it's not yet widely available at retail stores, this equipment will be increasingly available in the coming months.
(Please
enter your zip code above to confirm that
DIRECTV is currently serving your area.)
More Cities to Be Served Soon
DIRECTV looks forward to extending their local channel offering to other U.S. cities in the coming weeks. These additional TV markets will be served by
their satellite at the 119-degree WL location. The signals for these satellites can be received with the DIRECTV PLUSTM System or the DIRECTV PARA TODOSTM System. Customers can look for this equipment at their neighborhood retail store once local channels become available in their city.
Q&A for Local Channels
*Please note: By law, local service areas for satellite TV correspond to the designated market areas defined by Nielsen Media Research, Inc.
In some areas served by members or affiliates of the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative (" NRTC"), local channels may be available from DIRECTV rather than the
NRTC member or affiliate.
Programming, pricing, terms and conditions subject to change. Hardware and programming sold separately.
Local
Channels from DIRECTV: Questions & Answers |
Have questions about their
local channel offering? You'll find the answers below. If you're a DIRECTV
customer, you can also tune to Channel 900 for local channel updates.
In how many markets will you offer local
channels?
As many as 20 cities in the next three months.
Why don't you begin offering local channels
in all those cities at the same time?
DIRECTV wants to ensure the picture and sound quality of these services, so DIRECTV is
launching several cities in stages over the next few months.
Why don't you offer local channels in my
city?
Because there are more than 1,600 local TV stations across the country, no
single satellite provider has the capacity to carry them all. We'd love to
offer every local channel in the United States, but because of their limited
capacity DIRECTV had to choose the stations that would serve the greatest
number of their current DIRECTV customers. As technology advances and their
capacity expands, DIRECTV does plan to offer local channels to other cities.
Will you offer local channels to cities
other than those you announced?
DIRECTV expects to offer more local channels as technology advances and their
capacity expands.
I live in a small town, far from a big city.
Will you ever carry my local channels?
Their current plan is to serve about 50 million homes, or about half of the TV
households in the country. These will be in the larger TV markets because DIRECTV is
trying to serve as many DIRECTV customers as possible. You may want to try
accessing your local channels via an off-air
antenna connected to your DIRECTV System receiver.
In my city, you offer local feeds of ABC,
CBS, NBC and FOX. Will you carry more networks later?
DIRECTV does not currently have plans to offer more stations in your area, but
we'll let you know if other channels become available.
Why don't you carry all my local channels?
DIRECTV is looking into adding other stations in some cities, but their goal
is to bring the most-watched network stations to as many people as possible.
If DIRECTV added more channels for some cities, DIRECTV wouldn't be able to
serve as many cities in total.
Why do customers in some cities need new
receiving equipment?
Their goal is to provide local channels to as many cities as possible using
the satellites that carry most of their other programming, in orbit at 101
degrees West Longitude. Customers in these cities can receive local channels
from us with their existing DIRECTV receiving equipment. But to serve more
cities, DIRECTV has to use all their available satellites. This means using
satellites that are at different positions in the sky (110 and 119 degrees
West Longitude). Customers need special DIRECTV equipment to receive signals
from those satellites.
Can I get a different city's local channels?
The new law allows us to offer you only the local channels for the TV market
area where you live.
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