DIRECTV Announces New Markets for HD Locals

DIRECTV today named 14 new markets in which it will launch high-def local channels beginning in the third quarter of this year. They are:

   --  Cincinnati                               --  Madison, Wis.
 --  Austin, Texas                        --  Memphis, Tenn.
 --  Albuquerque, N.M.            --  Portland, Maine
 --  Grand Rapids, Mich.          --  Portland, Ore.
 --  Green Bay, Wis.                    --  Providence, R.I.
 --  Greensboro, N.C.                 --  Reno, Nev.
 --  Las Vegas                                --  San Antonio

DIRECTV currently offers 20 HD local channel markets including: Atlanta,
Birmingham, Boston, Chicago, Columbus, Dallas-Fort Worth, Detroit,
Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Nashville, New York,
Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, Tampa
and Washington, D.C. By June of this year, DIRECTV will have activated
local HD programming in 16 more previously announced markets for a
total of 36 markets, representing 58 percent of U.S. TV households.