DirecTV Begins Use of 72.5-Degree Slot

[Gregg Lengling]

DirecTV started offering local TV channels in five additional markets Tuesday, the first markets to use the 72.5-degree orbital location.

The extra capacity was gained through a deal with Telesat Canada, which controls the orbital location. The markets - Wausau-Rhinelander, Wis., Toledo, Ohio, Champaign-Springfield-Decatur, Ill., the Tri-Cities area in Tennessee and Virginia, and Johnstown-Altoona, Pa. - are the first of 24 local TV markets that DirecTV is launching at the slot.

Customers in these markets will require a second 18-inch dish to receive local channels. The dish and installation are being provided at no charge, the company said.

DirecTV said that with the addition of the 24 local TV markets it will have capacity to offer local TV in 130 markets, covering 92 percent of the TV households in the country.

[Andrew Grall]

Wow.... Wausau, WI, my old hometown, one of the first to get this service?  Impressive...