> As it is, for directv to send locals they need to use their second bird.

Not exactly true. The major market stations (e.g. LA, NY, Denver, etc.) are on the main sat (101deg). The minor market stations (e.g. Raleigh NC, etc.) are on the second sat. I'm getting the four Denver locals on the 101 sat now.

Very good point on the bandwidth issue, though. Given the number plain ol' NTSC local feeds and the level of compression being used, there is no way they are going to have room for the bandwidth -- at least not on the 101 sat.