oh man....
you missed it then....
of course it probably varies a bit depending on your location, but my parents got their DirecTV in 2000 and they had the local channels then....
That and pretty much all of the sports packages minus the soccer and basketball ones are on my bill :)
Like I said, our local cable company really cleaned up its act because the number of people dumping them for DirecTV or Dish Network scared the hell out them. Their rates have actually fallen below what the satellite companies charge, and when you have a problem, like a downed wire, they're out there within 24 hours of the call. It used to take almost a week to get a repairman out here.