DIRECTV Now Allowing Customers to Opt Out of Receiving Local Channels for a Discount
Only linear DIRECTV customers can choose this option for now, but these viewers get to better tailor their channel package for their viewing needs.
Local affiliates of major broadcast channels like ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC can be highly useful, especially for watching top sporting events like the NFL or local news programming. However, some viewers simply don’t have any interest in their local networks, and DIRECTV is trying to meet those customers where they are by offering its satellite subscribers the choice to opt out of receiving local channels in exchange for a cheaper monthly bill.
- Viewers who opt out of local channels with DIRECTV can save $12 per month.
- Customers must call DIRECTV to nix their local channels; DIRECTV STREAM, AT&T U-Verse, and DIRECTV Via Internet subscribers are not currently eligible for this option.
- The move could be in response to a recent FCC ruling, or to the joint venture streaming platform from Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery.
Starting this week, DIRECTV satellite customers who decide to discard the local channels in their area can save $12 per month, for a yearly savings of more than $140. The savings give customers more choices about how they allocate their entertainment dollars, so they could use the extra money to grab a subscription to Disney+, Max, Hulu, Netflix, or another on-demand streamer.
As of now, the new channel package without local networks is only available for DIRECTV satellite subscribers. Current customers who want to remove their local channels and access the discount should call DIRECTV customer service at 1-800-531-5000 to switch their plan over.
“Consumers have been voting with their wallets for years that pay TV – as currently constructed – is too expensive and restricts their choices,” DIRECTV’s chief content officer Rob Thun said. “Our new ‘No Locals’ package enables customers to take an important step forward in culling out certain types of content they may no longer care to watch and better balance the price they are willing to pay.”
Why is DIRECTV Launching This Locals-Free Package Now?
For years, DIRECTV has been vocal in its belief that there is something fundamentally broken about the channel distribution process that regularly leads to blackouts and substantial price increases for customers. Just last month, the company resolved its latest carriage and retransmission dispute just before the Super Bowl kicked off. That resolution restored local channels owned by Cox Media Group in nine markets across the country and came one month after DIRECTV came to terms with station owner TEGNA to restore 64 channels after a month-an-a-half-long blackout.
These types of disputes have become a standard part of the contract renegotiation process, but distributors like DIRECTV are often the ones that bear the brunt of them. Subscribers rightly get frustrated with the distributor, since those companies are the ones that the customers are paying to watch the channels. And when prices invariably increase as a result of new retransmission and carriage deals, customers start looking for other services that don’t cost as much money.
DIRECTV has been actively looking for ways to keep costs down for consumers and has been proposing them to providers as part of negotiations. When TEGNA pulled its channels from DIRECTV in November, the satellite and streaming company proposed giving customers the option to sign up for TEGNA's local affiliates on an a-la-carte basis. While the station owner was not in favor of this move, it does seem that DIRECTV has found a way to implement something similar, at least for its satellite customers.
What Other Factors Could Be Playing Into DIRECTV’s Move to Make Local Channels Optional?
The timing of DIRECTV’s new locals-free option is conspicuous for a couple of reasons. First off, the company is facing a new rule from the Federal Communications Commission which stipulates that TV distributors can no longer charge for local channels via an extra fee hidden as a line item on customer’s bills. This is a tactic used by many top pay-TV companies, but the rule says that cable and satellite providers now have to list the real cost for their plans up front, including local channel fees and other upcharges. DIRECTV could be trying to get ahead of that ruling by offering the locals-free plan.
The move could also be a response to the joint venture streaming service underway from Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery, which just named a CEO. That package will offer full livestreams of cable and broadcast channels like ABC, Fox, ESPN, TNT and others, and will in fact be a slimmed-down virtual multi-channel video programming distributor (vMVPD), much like DIRECTV STREAM or Sling TV.
DIRECTV may be moving towards similarly slimmed-down channel bundles that allow customers to choose their channels and save money. A company spokesperson said that DIRECTV has “pitched” a la carte pricing for local stations to channel owners, and that the company would like to “begin moving toward more modular packages that enable consumers to better meet their specific content interests while also balancing their budgets.”
This could allow DIRECTV to offer substantially cheaper channel plans that include a streamlined bundle of networks specifically tailored to the customer’s needs. When the JV streamer was first announced in early February, The Streamable speculated that its configuration could serve as a model for other channel owners and distributors. DIRECTV could be taking its first steps toward fulfilling that prediction.
It sounds as if DIRECTV is still talking to station owners about giving customers more flexibility with their channel selections, so customers of DIRECTV STREAM and AT&T U-Verse could be getting access to the locals-free channel bundle soon. Linear DIRECTV subscribers can call the company’s customer service line now to opt out of receiving their local affiliates of major broadcast networks and save $12 per month off their bill.
DIRECTV STREAM
DIRECTV STREAM is a live TV streaming service, which is essentially the streaming version of the DIRECTV service. All packages include local channels and at least 31 of the top 35 cable channels. New subscribers can get a free Gemini streaming device from the company, in which case the service is called “DIRECTV via Internet.”