DirecTV Fails Local Channels Promise for Five Years
Idaho Falls residents are being deceived.
Anyone who has received a DirecTV mailer has been frustrated that the great bundled offer cannot include local channels in our area. DirecTV representatives try to mollify us with offers of using an antenna to receive channels over-the-air, that we “should” be able to get a waiver and receive major networks from another area (like the Salt Lake City or Boise markets), or promise potential customers that DirecTV will be adding our local channels in the “next few months”.
The problem with over-the-air signals is that you cannot use a DVR/Tivo to record shows on the local channels like you can with the rest of your programming. This presents a serious drawback, and I have heard several people switching from DirecTV to Dish network for this reason alone. The over-the-air antenna solution cobbles your programming, and customers are overpaying for a critical function they cannot receive.
The problem with requesting a waiver to get major network channels from another market is you cannot get this in our area. One person I spoke to said he has requested waivers several times over the last five years. He claims the companies running our local channels keep refusing the waiver. Why are our local channels refusing these waivers and hobbling the service for so many locals?
The most serious problem with DirecTV stems from their misleading advertising campaigns and their representatives promising local channels to become available “in a few months”.
The first part is that DirecTV targets their advertising to households by zip code, if not by specific street address. The manner in which DirecTV checks for local channel availability, both over the phone and on their website, is through zip code. Since DirecTV knows by zip code where local channels are not available, they should not be direct-mailing advertising offers where they know they cannot fulfill a critical component.
The second part is that when you call DirecTV and ask them when they might get our local channels, you often hear from the reps “soon”, “in the next few months”, “we plan it early next year”, or “probably by the end of this year”. A buddy who works at the local Qwest calling center told me when they got trained to sell DirecTV a few years ago, the corporate DirecTV trainers promised the same words and directed the local salespeople to use that language. This constitutes blatant false advertising by DirecTV and their resellers, including Qwest.
I emailed DirecTV a question asking specifically about several customers calling DTV over the last five years and being repeatedly told DTV would have local channels “within months”. Their response was:
… we don’t have any plans yet to offer local channels in your area, but we hope to at some point in the future.
I do not know why local channels are not available on DirecTV. They are available on Dish network. I am sure we can count on finger-pointing between DirecTV and the local networks. Another DirecTV subscriber I spoke to claims that our local CableOne has a role in blocking the local channel availability.
I hope our state Attorney General’s office looks into these shenanigans. At the least, there is probably false advertising being conducted by DirecTV for several years, and this could lead to a substantial fine. A class-action lawsuit by former DirecTV customers could likely be filed for this issue. The state AG’s office should also look into why the local channels cannot seem to get carried on Dish but not DirecTV, and why the local channels will not grant waivers.
There is one way that local consumers can fight back individually in the meantime. Anyone may continuously request waivers which require a signal test. The local channels and DirecTV must pay someone to go out to your home and check if they get at least a class B signal. We know this likely will exist, but if hundreds of locals request these waivers every month, eventually the local channels and DirecTV should get tired of paying for the checks and work out a broadcast deal.
What do you think?
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Comments
I had Dish before they carried the local channels, and you could not record the locals. The antenna signal did come through the same wire as the dish, however you must shut off the receiver to view the local channels, hence the DVR would not be able to record.
I have a buddy who switched from Dish to Direct because of a killer deal, and thought he would be able to do the same thing. He can view the local channels with antenna, but he also cannot record them.
I used to work for DirecTV, and I can understand your frustration with the local channels situation. I do know that it is a fairly complicated process, and there are thousands of local affiliates that have to agree to be picked up by the provider … not to mention satellite bandwidth, spot-beam space, etc.
I agree that their advertising is misleading … which is why I advise waiting until they actually add the locals before signing up.
I recently moved to IF from South Florida this past May and I had Directv for the past 8 years down there. When Katrina came through South Florida and ripped everyones dish off the side of their homes, it took 5 weeks for them to come hook me back up! Because of that, they gave me 2 months free and half price for the next year, which turned out to be like 23 dollars and change. So when I moved to IF, I transferred my Directv account and was very disappointed to find they didn’t support local channels! Both Dish & Directv had local channels in South Florida, so why not here?? I contacted EVERYONE and their brother to get an answer, but nobody ever gave me the same answer. Basically it’s a deal that Dish has with the local channels, which prohibits Directv from obtaining them until Dish’s contract is up. (just one of the many stories I was told) But Directv won’t tell you that! They don’t want to lose your business to Dish, so they string you along and tell you “it’ll be here soon”! Yeah right! I love Directv and think their service, price and channel line up is much better then Dish, but I decided to go with Cable One. I’m not a big fan of CableOne, but they do offer a good broadband internet connection, which I also had a difficult time finding when I moved to IF. The problem is, Cableone is more expensive and I get less channels! I refuse to go with Dish Network as I’m a die-hard Directv fan. So it’s Cable One for me, until Directv gets some cajonnes! I guess that’s what I should expect, moving to a small town. I was just used to having so many different choices for tv and internet service in South Florida, I just didn’t realize how good I had it till I moved out to the sticks!
But after dealing with so much traffic, rude people, and the over-growth of South Florida for the past 30+ years, there’s no place I’d rather be then right here in Idaho Falls!
Chrisr67,
Idaho Falls isn’t South Florida, I will totally grant you that. I don’t recall any gators biting people, or drug cartels like Miami gets, or illegal immigrants trying to come ashore with their homemade rafts - such ethical questions with that one, plus other issues that come with a large population in a somewhat limited space.
And, of course, as you mentioned, your own experience with Katrina, should serve as a reminder to people living in eastern Idaho of the 5-6 months of Hurrcane season for FL. I can’t imagine what that cost. I heard recently that ALL insurances in FL were going to increase at least 40% (like homeowners, automobile etc.), due to Katrina.
Unless one has lived there, had family there or traveled much to south Fl, and sometimes central FL (Disneyworld on the east and Tampa/ St. Pete on the west), it can be hard to understand the bugs and so much that is so different compared to ID. I personally don’t like all the turnpikes with the tolls. I’m not sure many residents in eastern ID really understand how much it “costs” to get to work, depending on where one lives. A few dollars each way adds up to easily $50.00/week for toll fees alone.
For me personally, having seen a lot of the destruction of previous Hurricanes, I’d rather deal with the wind in Idaho or colder temperature at times. Besides, the humidity in FL can be difficult to tolerate, let alone the heat.
More and more people are relocating to Idaho Falls from FL. I obviously do not know what you do, but I find it interesting that you selected Idaho Falls as your relocation area. Perhaps it was family, friends or other that swayed you to this part of the U.S.
Anyway, per chance no one has said this, Welcome to the Idaho Falls area and to IdahoFallz.Com. We always like to have new residents join us, as we all can benefit.
I do realize moving from a population of many millions to a state that has just over a million residents is quite a drastic change. But, I have to honestly say, I’ve not heard others who have relocated to I.F., from FL and elsewhere, including the tristate area in NY, call it a “small town.” By Idaho standards, Idaho Falls isn’t small. Maybe Arco is, but not Idaho Falls.
Just because I’m curious about how you’ve made the adjustment compared to others, what would you consider a small city compared to a small town? What amenities, infrastructure, industries or other factors make an area a city for you vs. a town?
I am serious asking those questions, as a lot of planning has gone into working on revitalization of certain areas of Idaho Falls, let alone the benefits that came with reaching the 50K mark and being on the radar of so many more companies who add additional stores. Nonetheless, regardless of how much individuas or groups have worked on upgrading the area, perception of those viting and those relocating counts for a lot. I hope you will share some of yours here.
I, too, like DirectTv. While I’ve been able to get local access via the antenna route, I can’t record from them either. I find that frustrating too.
What I don’t know about DirectTV or Dish is how much is about market share vs. truly providing service? I thought Jeremy added useful information that I certainly didn’t know.
In comparison to DirectTv or Dish, look at the cell phone providers. They are all working to improve coverage and add additional towers so that YNP, the Tetons and other areas are accessible. Perhaps Jeremy’s answer is the answer about how many stations are involved etc. But, I have to wonder how some service providers can make things happen and others can’t.
Again, welcome to you and your famiy. I’m sure you will have great ideas for improvement to the area. I’m looking forward to reading what your thoughts on future subjects.
This week I received another hilariously misleading advertisement from DirecTv.
It claimed “a myth about satellite tv is you cannot get local channels”, boasting that DirecTV offers local channels in 97% of their markets.
Uhhhh, but Idaho Falls is still one of those markets where you cannot get local channels with DirecTV satellite service, even after five six years of their reps promising customers it was just around the corner.
Quite hilarious.
Avoid DirecTV service in the Idaho Falls market.
Joe is correct. TW is dropping their television broadcasting and they moved their existing TV customers to Dish. You still need their antenna for high speed internet, if they are your internet provider.
IMHO Dish has better programming packages and pricing. In addition to local networks.
You also only need one antenna now to receive local channels on Dish.
I also feel I was misled by Direct TV. We switched from Dish Network because we bought a big HDTV and wanted the additonal HD programming that Direct TV offered. We were told that with the proper antenna, we should be able to get all the local channels, “should” being the operative word, I guess. They also assured us that if we STILL were unable to recieve a local channel after getting the “correct” antenna, we would be able to get a “waver” to recieve the signal over the satillite via SLC or LA or some other big city. What they didn’t tell us was that NO ONE so far in our neighborhood has ever qualified for this waver. I’ve requested this waver over the phone twice since we signed up about 6 months ago–we never recieved any forms or paperwork or visits from anyone to check our signal out. We bought a huge antenna, paid a specialist to hook it all up, in fact, paid a specialist to wire and hook and attach and “tweak” everything– the TV, the DVR, the satillite, the cables– and we STILL can’t get CBS, CW, PBS, and a couple of others. To this day, I miss some of my favorite programs because I can’t get the signal and I can’t get a waiver. What’s wrong with this picture? Who wins when people like me can’t get the signal? Who benefits? Why prevent me from getting the signal???? I just want to watch my shows, watch the commercials, maybe buy some of the products that are featured. How can the TV stations benefit from me NOT seeing their programming and advertising????? I just don’t get it.
They never grant waivers locally, that’s where the DirecTV lie truly is.
I think DirecTV gets away with false advertising via their disclaimer ***Local channels available most markets.
However, I think DirecTV blatantly lies to southeast Idaho consumers with the waiver claim.
The attorney general or a group of southeast Idaho DirecTV customers should sue DirecTV for that waiver claim. Nobody has ever gotten one.
I have been a fan of Directv for many many years, until I moved up here. I had my service transferred and then realized they didn’t offer local channels. I did receive the waiver and sent it in. I was told I can’t request the waiver over the phone, I had to send in a letter to have them send me mine, which I did. I filled it out and sent it in and got a reply back 6 weeks later. I forget what it said exactly, but it basically told me I would not be receiving local channels anytime soon, BUT they were working on getting them added. Currently Dish network has a contract with the local channels, and I think that has something to do with why Directv doesn’t offer them. Not sure why both satellite companies cant have local channels here, but such is the case. I never liked DishNetwork and their programming, or their receivers even with the 1-2 dollars you save a month over Directv, so I went with Cable.
After looking into internet access here, or the lack thereof, I decided to go with CableOne for both my ISP and tv. I’ve been happy with them so far. Aside from the occasional lame customer service, but then again these days that’s pretty much a problem with every company.
MY RESPONSE TO THIS->
The problem with over-the-air signals is that you cannot use a DVR/Tivo to record shows on the local channels like you can with the rest of your programming. This presents a serious drawback, and I have heard several people switching from DirecTV to Dish network for this reason alone. The over-the-air antenna solution cobbles your programming, and customers are overpaying for a critical function they cannot receive.
YOU ARE CORRECT ABOUT NOT BEING ABLE TO USE THE OFF AIR ANTENNA BECAUSE THE RECEIVER IS A PASS THROUGH UNIT AND MUST BE OFF FOR THE OFF AIR ANTENNA TO WORK. THE FIX: GETA STAND ALONE TIVO UNIT FROM TIVA AND ATTACH IT TO ANY DIRECTV RECEIVER (EXCEPT THE H20, IT IS INCOMPATIBLE).
MY RESPONSE TO THIS ->
that we “should” be able to get a waiver and receive major networks from another area (like the Salt Lake City or Boise markets), or promise potential customers that DirecTV will be adding our local channels in the “next few months”.
DIRECTV HAS NEVER PROMISED ANYTHING WHEN I HAVE CALLED. THEY HAVE ALWAYS STATED THAT THEY “HOPED TO BE ABLE TO DELIVER THAT PROGRAMMING SOON”. ALSO, YOU WILL NEVER RECEIVE LOCAL STATIONS FROM BOISE OR SALT LAKE. WHEN YOU REQUEST A WAIVER, YOU ARE REQUESTING THAT THE LOCAL AFFILIATES OF MAJOR NETOWRKS (ABC, CBS, NBC ETC) GRANT YOU THE ABILITY TO RECEIVE LOCAL PROGRAMMING FROM L.A. AND/OR NEW YORK. THIS IS A MATTER OF FINCANCE FROM LOCAL AFFILIATES IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE FCC. WHEN YOU VIEW PROGRAMMING FROM OUTSIDE YOUR LOCAL MARKET, LOCAL MARKETING AND ADVERTISING REVENUE IS LOST BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT VIEWING LOCAL ADVERTISING. SMALLER LOCAL AFFILIATES LIKE OREGON TRAIL BROADCASTING HAVE GATHERED THE HELP OF THE FCC TO REGULATE THIS AND CABLE AND SATELLITE PROVIDERS ARE BOUND BY FEDERAL MANDATE. THEY HAVE ZERO CONTROL OVER THIS. THE ONLY OTHER OPTION WOULD BE TO LAUNCH AN ADDITIONAL 2 SATELLITES (AT $10 BILLION PER SATELLITE) TO PROVIDE 100% COVERAGE OF LOCAL CHANNEL BROADCASTING. DIRECTV AND DISH NETWORK ARE NOTHING MORE THAN REBROADCAST SERVICES. THEY ARE NOT THE SOURCE OF YOUR WOES.
MY RESPONSE TO THIS->
Another DirecTV subscriber I spoke to claims that our local CableOne has a role in blocking the local channel availability.
CABLEONE HAS NO ROLE IN THIS. IF YOU DON’T LIKE IT, I RECOMMEND YOU VISIT THE FCC WEBSITE AND READ THE MANDATE FOR YOURSELF AT:
MY RESPONSE TO THIS->
The local channels and DirecTV must pay someone to go out to your home and check if they get at least a class B signal. We know this likely will exist, but if hundreds of locals request these waivers every month, eventually the local channels and DirecTV should get tired of paying for the checks and work out a broadcast deal
WRONG AGAIN. LOCAL AFFILIATES ARE IN CONTROL OF THIS VENTURE AND THEY DON’T “PAY” ANYONE TO PROVIDE THIS SERVICE. ITS PART OF THIER LEGAL AGREEMENT WITH THE MAJOR NETWORKS. DIRECTV HAS NO PART IN THIS. THE REASON YOU WILL NOT GET DNS (DISTANT NETWORK SERVICES, I.E. L.A. OR NEY YORK STATIONS) IS BECAUSE THE LOCAL EQUIPMENT AFFILIATES USE HAS NOT CHANGES, SO THE SIGNAL TEST WILL ALWAY HAVE THE SAME RESULT, THUS NO DNS. WE WILL LIKELY NEVER SEE LOCAL STATIONS PROVIDED BY DIRECTV BECAUSE THEY TAKE BADWIDTH THAT DIRECTV JUST DOES NOT HAVE. DISH NETWORK INCLUDED OUR AREA, DIRECT TV DID NOT. NO SATELLITE COMPANY PROVIDES LOCAL STATIONS TO 100% OF MARKETS. ITS THAT SIMPLE.
I AM NOT A FAN OF DIRECTV, BUT IF YOU ARE GOING TO FLAME A COMPANY THAT GROSSES $90 BILLION PER YEAR, IT WOULD BEHOOVE YOU TO HAVE YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT.
THANKS FOR READING.
Just want to point out two facts:
DirecTV asks for your zip code to determine if we get local channel availability.
DirecTV targets advertising to our zip code stating that they offer local channels. One ad even described it as a myth that they don’t offer local channel availability.
I wonder why our AG doesn’t go after DirecTV for five, wait no six years of lying to Idahoans.
As for Brian’s remarks here…
Suggesting we buy a standalone TiVo to compensate for DirecTV’s inadequacies is pretty funny. That’s like a car company telling me to buy an extra engine and install it in the trunk because their engine won’t go up hills.
Brian, regarding the local waivers, you are stating your own anecdotal evidence. I stated the anecdotal evidence from many people I have talked to, and my own experiences. Many reps have told Idahoans that DirecTV will get local channels “in the next few months”. Some buddies of mine who work at the local Qwest call center were trained by DirecTV a few years ago to tell customers in southeast Idaho that local channels would become available “in a few months”.
I still don’t know why DirecTV cannot get local channels, if it is due to DirecTV’s inability, CableOne’s monopolistic behavior, or our local channels’ greed?
Plus there’s no need to “yell” Brian. We all can understand your thoughts on this issue without the “ALL CAPS” being on.
Thanks for your input, but Joe is right on this one. I had the exact same issues with DirecTv when I moved here. Which is why I use Cable One.
There realy is no reason why DirecTv, Dish Network & Cableone can’t all carry local channels. I’ve lived in a number of cities across the country and both satellite companies and local cable all carried local channels in their prospective markets.
We really don’t care how much money DirecTv grosses each year, (that’s not the point!) we only want our local channels available to us whether we choose Dish, DirecTv OR Cable.
We are having the same problems in Mississippi with Direct TV outright lying to us every time we call to request better service with the local channels conspiracy and they even told us our monthly bill would be one specific amount and then sent us a bill for almost twice that much. They promised us a free ipod. Nothing on that either. And the bad thing is that we have no other choice but to go with satellite because our local cable company has a horrible lineup of about fifteen channels that donot include courttv, msnbc, nor headline news. So, now we are having to setup a vcr at my mother’s house in a nearby town to record several shows on abc and cbs that we like. Why can’t these people have a heart and just tell us the truth? Pathetic.
I agree with your overall point, Brian. Our family has been happy since we shut off our tv service. Besides doing more with each other and more things around the house, if we do want video content there is tons available for free online now. I’m beginning to wonder if TV service is nearing the end of it’s life?
However, the point was that a company has been making service promises to many consumers for SIX years now, and have consistently failed to deliver on that promise.
And the question still remains unsolved: Why do Dish and Cableone carry local channels and DirecTV does not?
It’s called “cheap entertainment” and I personally don’t see it near the “end of its life”. It it were nearing the end of its life, they wouldn’t be putting so much money into HiDef technologies and television set advancements.
Although we limit our viewing of tv, I personally don’t think I’ll ever see a reason to completely ban it from our household. Sure you can access many things online, but who wants to sit around a 17-19in monitor with lame sound all night? Not me. Our family has family time and then we have time for ourselves to do what we want. There’s alot of great programming available on tv and if you can’t find it, you’re not looking very hard.
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Hey Joe, My husband and I have dish network and we have not hooked it up there yet since we haven’t moved. But if you have the right receiver then you can record with the antennae cause it all goes through the receiver. Have you looked in that at all?? I am not sure if teh same goes for Direct TV….