Several Palm Springs “local” channels may soon be gone for Coachella Valley DirecTV subscribers.
News Press Gazzette (NPG), a company that owns mostly midwest newspapers and a few TV channels including a near monopoly of “local” TV stations in the desert, is in a contract dispute with the television provider, owned by AT&T, over the carriage fees – which tv stations normally collect from those who carry their channels.
While the two sides have agreed to a couple of extensions for negotiating, if no deal is worked out then KESQ (ABC), KDFX (FOX), KUNA (Telemundo), CBS Local 2 (CBS), and KCWQ (CW) could be off the air for DirecTV viewers at 3 pm on Thursday.
While the two big companies squabble over money, what is a DirecTV customer to do? Here are a couple of options:
Get an antenna
The days of the shitty TV antenna are over. Nowadays, you can get a crystal clear high def. picture on your screen with a simple antenna and, perhaps more importantly, without paying a dime to a cable or satellite company.
This HDTV antenna is Amazon’s best seller, it’s only $30, and, best of all, it’s on Prime. So yeah, you could have it in time for this weekend’s playoff games.
Stream
If you are just looking for local news, you can watch KESQ’s online stream here. For those looking for the primetime shows that you might be missing, Hulu or each network’s online app could be a solid option for you. As far as sports go, Cut Cable Today has all of the options for online streaming – just in case this whole mess is the tipping point to get you to cut the cord.
Get Spectrum
Time Warner Cable recently became Spectrum in the Coachella Valley. From my experience, the customer service is still…well, meh. But, on the bright side, my bill went down from where it was before.
Watch Something Else
Have you seen The OA or The Crown on Netflix? What about Transparent on Amazon or Westworld on HBO GO. There are a lot of solid shows out there not on the stations affected. Just look at this as an opportunity to check them out.
