El Segundo, Calif. – DirecTV said it has reached a deal with the Fox Television Station Group to allow the carriage of Fox digital television channels, including high definition programming, in 26 designated market areas.
The satellite service began carrying digital channels from Fox’s WNYW affiliate in New York City and from its KTTV affiliate in Los Angeles on Dec. 22 for “eligible viewers” in markets where the network has an owned & operated affiliate.
These include the following markets: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, Dallas-Fort Worth, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Detroit, Houston, Tampa, Fla., Minneapolis, Cleveland, Phoenix, Denver, Orlando, Fla., St. Louis, Baltimore, Milwaukee, Kansas City, Mo., Salt Lake City, Birmingham, Ala., Memphis, Tenn. Greensboro, N.C., Austin, Texas and Gainesville, Fla.
DirecTV is controlled by News Corp., which also owns the Fox Television Station Group.
Subscribers to a DirecTV local channel package, who live in the eligible markets and have high-definition-capable IRDs, will receive the Fox digital TV channels free of charge.
Subscribers in the Pacific and Mountain Time zones will receive KTTV from Los Angeles and those in the Central and Eastern Time zones will receive WNYW from New York.
The additions come in time for Fox’s HD telecasts of the NFL’s NFC playoff games, and the network’s coverage of the Super Bowl on Feb. 6. Previously, Fox and DirecTV arranged a limited viewing of Fox’s HD coverage of Major League Baseball’s 2004 playoff and World Series games.
Fox owned-and-operated stations reach approximately 45 percent of U.S. television homes, DirecTV said.
