As part of AT&T buying DirecTV it was also a way for AT&T to get around regulations and provisions for cable operators to carry local public education and government channels. As well as local franchise fees and city regulations for cable operators.
I asked AT&T if the PEG(Public Education, and Government) channels existing on DirecTV and I was assured that all the channels from UVerse exist on DirecTV, well that is not true.
DirecTV has negotiated favorable rates and has managed to cut some of the channels requiring service.
So where do subscribers who want to watch PEG channels go. Go to a cable operator that is wire based, like Charter, Time Warner, Cox, ComCast, etc. Satellite operators are not
It is a shame that AT&T found a way to carry less community content and tricking customers into believing that the service is better. DirecTV was better years ago, long before AT&T purchased. It will be interesting to see how local cities recover some of these fees or impose fees on satellite operators like Dish and DirecTV.
Our last bill from AT&T for U-Verse included
CA Local Video Facilities Fees – $1.21
CA Local Video Service Franchise Fee – $6.34
These amounts are substantial when considered in addition to other fees totaling $12.63 for a basic UVerse service factors at over 10% of the total bill with only TV.