DirecTV Launches 10 Additional PBS Stations in HD

December 23, 2008

By Mike Peters

DirecTV announced the launch of additional high-definition (HD) local public television stations in 10 more markets across the country. The only satellite TV provider to offer local public television stations in HD, DirecTV previously launched 14 markets and plans to roll out additional markets through the end of the year and in 2009.

Additional DirecTV Customers Receive Local PBS in HD

The additional local PBS stations in HD were launched in the following markets: Burlington VT-Plattsburgh, NY - WCFE; Toledo, OH - WGTE; Youngstown, OH - WNEO; Flint-Saginaw-Bay City, MI - WFUM; Indianapolis, IN - WFYI; Knoxville, TN - WKOP; San Diego, CA - KPBS; San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, CA - KQED; Springfield-Holyoke, MA - WGBY; and Tampa-St. Petersburg, FL - WEDU.

Under an agreement reached late last year by DirecTV, Inc., the Association of Public Television Stations (APTS), and PBS, DirecTV will offer HD programming from local public television stations in markets where it now provides local HD channels to its customers. DirecTV offers local HD programming in 116 markets, representing more than 87 percent of U.S. TV households.

DirecTV, a Leading Satellite Provider of Digital TV and Entertainment Services

The DirecTV Group (DTV) is a world-leading provider of digital television entertainment services. Through its subsidiaries and affiliated companies in the U.S., Brazil, Mexico, and other countries in Latin America, the DirecTV Group provides digital television service to over 17.3 million customers in the U.S. and about 5.5 million customers in Latin America.

DirecTV U.S, DirecTV Holdings LLC, and its subsidiaries is the largest provider of DTH digital television services and the second largest provider in the multi-channel video programming distribution, or MVPD, industry in the U.S.