DirecTV to carry local PBS HD - Rollout begins 12/03/08!

[Ken H]

DIRECTV to Carry Public Television Stations in HD
DIRECTV, Association of Public Television Stations and PBS Reach
Landmark Agreement for Digital Carriage in Local Markets Across the
Country Beginning Next Year
EL SEGUNDO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 19, 2007--Public Television stations across the country will soon be available in high-definition (HD) to DIRECTV customers through a landmark agreement reached today by DIRECTV, Inc., the Association of Public Television Stations (APTS) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). DIRECTV viewers will have access to other Public Television content as well.

Continuing its unprecedented expansion of HD services, DIRECTV, the industry leader in HD programming, will include the local HD feeds of Public Television stations in its HD rollout plans beginning in 2008. DIRECTV currently offers local HD programming in 68 markets, representing more than 72 percent of U.S. TV households.

DIRECTV, APTS and PBS also will work together to develop new video on demand offerings to make available local and national public television programming to DIRECTV's customers anytime they want it. In addition, DIRECTV will carry two national standard-definition channels of Public Television programming, further expanding its commitment to high-quality educational programming.

"We are thrilled to be partnering with APTS and PBS to offer our customers award-winning HD programming from local Public Television stations across the country," said Chase Carey, president and CEO, DIRECTV, Inc. "This agreement is the result of a cooperative effort that will utilize innovative technology to deliver the highest quality local content to DIRECTV viewers. DIRECTV is committed to offering the best HD programming lineup available, and we are delighted to begin carrying programs of the caliber of The NewsHour, Frontline, NOVA, American Masters, the American Experience and award-winning children's programming in this visually compelling format."

APTS President & CEO John Lawson said: "This is a forward-looking, innovative agreement for the digital age. It means the great HD programming from PBS and local Public Television stations will be available to DIRECTV customers in every market where DIRECTV carries any local HD. We will also work together to make available a vast library of on demand content from local Public Television stations across the country. This is a great day for public service media in America."

"One of our foremost priorities is extending the quality content that PBS offers across the broadest range of platforms," said PBS President and CEO Paula Kerger. "We are pleased with this agreement, which enables Public Television stations to provide even better service to viewers in their communities."

The terms of the deal were unanimously approved by the APTS Board of Trustees yesterday and are pending approval by the PBS Board of Directors. The agreement must be ratified by local Public Television stations.

Information regarding the full DIRECTV HD programming lineup, which includes 87 national HD channels, and details on receiving equipment needed for the new DIRECTV HD services, are available by calling 1-800-DIRECTV or visiting directv.com.

About DIRECTV

DIRECTV, Inc. (NASDAQ : DTV), the nation's leading satellite television service provider, presents the finest television experience available to 16.6 million customers in the United States and is leading the HD revolution with 87 national HD channels - more quality HD channels than any other television provider. Each day, DIRECTV subscribers enjoy access to over 265 channels of 100% digital picture and sound, exclusive programming, industry-leading customer satisfaction (which has surpassed cable for seven years running) and superior technologies that include advanced DVR and HD-DVR services and the most state-of-the-art interactive sports packages available anywhere. For the most up-to-date information on DIRECTV, please visit directv.com.

About APTS

The Association of Public Television Stations (APTS) was established to support the continued growth and development of a strong and financially sound noncommercial television service for the American public. As broadcasters make the transition to digital, APTS is working to ensure the federal government continues its commitment to universal public television services and that those services are available across all platforms. For more information, visit www.apts.org

About PBS

PBS is a media enterprise that serves 355 public noncommercial television stations and reaches nearly 73 million people each week through on-air and online content. Bringing diverse viewpoints to television and the Internet, PBS provides high-quality documentary and dramatic entertainment, and consistently dominates the most prestigious award competitions. PBS is a leading provider of digital learning content for pre-K-12 educators and offers a broad array of other educational services. PBS' premier kids' TV programming and Web site, PBS KIDS Online (www.pbskids.org), continue to be parents' and teachers' most trusted learning environments for children. More information about PBS is available at www.pbs.org , one of the leading dot-org Web sites on the Internet.

[dssset]

This is good news - especially since the newest directv hd boxes don't include antenna in's for locals. I guess there's not much interest in pbs here since nobody else seems to have posted. hmmmm.

[Trip in VA]

Do a lot of PBS stations do their own HD lineups? I know my local station just feeds PBS-HD off a satellite from what I can tell.

- Trip

[Mister B]

Yes, I am very interested in PBS, in fact I could not get by as OTA only without it. Some stations in larger cities are changing over to having a local PBS feed that switches back and forth between HD and SD the same as the commercial network local stations. Here in El Paso, Texas we still have the national PBS HD feed with a copy of the local channel on a SD sub-channel. They hope to have the local in HD by 2009 when they also switch from UHF back down to UHF.

[TexRob]

I'm a giant dork, I look forward to Antique Roadshow in HD.

[snidely]

I just saw this thread. I have been posting on various forums and threads here for nearly 2 years about the fact that neither of the 2 U.S. sat systems carried PBS HD.
Other than OTA, the only way to get it was via cable, or by being a subscriber to one of the two Canadian systems. They have two PBS HD feeds - east and west). (BEV has Boston/Settle - I forget what cities SC has.)
I am surprised that regulations don't require HD carriage.
I am not clear from the OP whether this means the present cities with HD will be added soon or not. We did drop our Canadian service but kept Comcast w. its HD-DVR. Couldn't consider U.S. sat. w.o. PBS.

...mike

[JVW]

Here in Denver, PBS-DT channel does not include the Lehrer Report which is 'filmed' in HD, but the only local transmission is in SD. Does anyone know why?

[zoro]

darn!!too excited!now i can enjoy new black hd dvdr lol.

[tollonodre]

Originally Posted by snidely

I am surprised that regulations don't require HD carriage.

DirecTV wanted to carry the local HD.
PBS wanted them to carry the local HD and all the sub-channels, HD and SD.

It basically took them this long to work it out. DirecTV didn't want to spend the bandwith for essentially duplicated HD subchannels across all the local markets, PBS felt that it should.

The compromise - as I understand it - is essentially one local HD per market, and two national SD channels with content that would normally be found on the subchannels.

[ralphyboy]

any idea when this will happen? I have seen "soon" on their December press release, and that's it.

[s2silber]

I thought I had heard that LA was already getting its local PBS channel in HD from DirecTV, but then others there said it wasn't happening. Are we going to have to wait until the new satellite is activated?

[zoro]

Originally Posted by s2silber

I thought I had heard that LA was already getting its local PBS channel in HD from DirecTV, but then others there said it wasn't happening. Are we going to have to wait until the new satellite is activated?

just heard March! plus off the air adapter for HD DVDR

[s2silber]

Originally Posted by zoro

just heard March! plus off the air adapter for HD DVDR

Can you elaborate?

[zoro]

Originally Posted by s2silber

Can you elaborate?

my installer told me that public tv will be not before March! and there will be off air adapter for hdr 21

[jdspencer]

Let's see, my PBS channel carries the national HD on their main channel, with their local one on a subchannel along with something called Create. If local PBS stations are really carrying the national HD one, why the heck should DirecTV waste bandwidth for all of those duplicates?

[s2silber]

I'd be happy with just our main PBS station (WNET-13) on DirecTV. When's that happening?

[litzdog911]

Transponder 6 on 99-deg W recently "lit up" here in Seattle. I'm guessing that in prep for providing our local PBS channel, and hopefully a couple more local HD channels.

[Johnnycanal]

Originally Posted by TexRob

I'm a giant dork, I look forward to Antique Roadshow in HD.

we have it here in OTA and its nice; just started a few weeks ago

[Arkyman]

I'll take all the "FREE" TV I can get

[jpillar]

Originally Posted by snidely

I just saw this thread. I have been posting on various forums and threads here for nearly 2 years about the fact that neither of the 2 U.S. sat systems carried PBS HD.
Other than OTA, the only way to get it was via cable, or by being a subscriber to one of the two Canadian systems. They have two PBS HD feeds - east and west). (BEV has Boston/Settle - I forget what cities SC has.)
I am surprised that regulations don't require HD carriage.
I am not clear from the OP whether this means the present cities with HD will be added soon or not. We did drop our Canadian service but kept Comcast w. its HD-DVR. Couldn't consider U.S. sat. w.o. PBS.

...mike

I live in New Jersey. Can I subscribe to a Canadian satelite system?

[zoro]

are we there in US

[PA_MainyYak]

Originally Posted by Trip in VA

Do a lot of PBS stations do their own HD lineups? I know my local station just feeds PBS-HD off a satellite from what I can tell.

- Trip

That seems generally to be the case, although WQED in Pittsburgh inserts its "On Q" discussion show in HD.

[cymro]

It's now May.

Anybody have any updates on when PBS HD locals will happen?

Thanks

[surf_fun85]

properbly sometime in the fall once D* 11 is up and running...

[snidely]

Originally Posted by jpillar

I live in New Jersey. Can I subscribe to a Canadian satelite system?

Sorry i'm a few months late Been away from AVS for a while. Getting Canadian DBS in the U.S. is a "grey" area. You do have to give a Canadian address when you sign up. You can give a U.S. cr. card to be billed automatically. We subscribed for years w.o. a problem. Canadian coverage of Olympics is consistently superior. Most can be seen live - altho repeated again in prime time. Good forum to learn more is at www.kusat.com.

...mike

[ownersedge]

In San Francisco area where can I get back my darn GemStar Guide+ data for my OTA HDTV RCA HD50LPW42? It's been gone for months.
Online the only reference to Guide+ is for European markets. Was it displaced by TVGOS? And is that only for Cable users?

I am OTA all the way until D* can really offer Local HD with SD subchannels, and maybe get that HD DVR up to the performance standard of my UltimateTV SD-DVR. It's user features seem so superior to what I've seen on this forum [Auto-tune and PIP for example].

I apologize for mixing topics here. I really want to get OTA GUIDE+. ( There is no way to reach TVGuide-Gemstar it seems)

[Meols Kopite]

That is great news, cant wait.

[pbraun]

We just got D* HD, and when I called them about getting WTTW out of Chicago (my PBS local), they didn't have an answer. So, I called WTTW, and they said they'd pass my comments along, but I should really call DTV.

This was last week. So, it seems that there are still no definite plans, and everyone is passing the buck to the other guy.

This is frustrating, since one of the reasons we went HD was for SoundStage. There's an upcoming episode that my wife and I were involved in the taping of (wow, is that bad grammar) and it's supposed to air during the Fall pledge drive. Now it's looking like DTV and PBS won't get things ironed out in time, and we'll have to settle for SD and just buy the dvd.

[s2silber]

So, does DirecTV provide the local PBS station in HD in any markets in the U.S. at this time?

[commodore_dude]

No, the hope is that with the new satellite that will happen. I can't say personally that it means much in Atlanta because our two PBS stations just went HD recently and didn't have a ton of content the last time I checked, but more HD is more HD!