Directv does not, Dish network does. Directv did in the past, Dish does today and for the same reason... When satellite was created and began in home use, the federal government decided that satellite TV should not carry local channels... this later changed. However most of the programming groups and prices were already made... so they just added locals. Also, there are still areas of the country that do not get local channels, so the satellite providers do not want to charge those areas for locals they don't get by includung that price in the pack, hence why it is seperate. Directv now has locals in over 95% of the country, so they include locals in the pack, and if you live in an area with no locals, you get a few dollars discount... but only if you live in an area with no locals. Dish now includes locals in their new DVR-ADVANTAGE package pricing, however they don't in the basic packages, mostly for marketting reasons more than non-availability issues. One more reason for it was to offset the cost of increased satellite bandwidth. There are about 400 national channels, including premiums, pay-per-views, and sporting events... however nationwide there are over 1,500 local channels... so local channels DOMINATE the satellite space... so to make that money back they charge a couple of bucks for the locals.... make sense?