By Phillip Swann
The TV Answer Man –Follow on X.
Former editor of Satellite DIRECT magazine. Reported on DIRECTV for 30 years.

DIRECTV’s satellite service today is having a nationwide outage that is preventing subscribers from watching local channels and a few other channels such as the NFL Network. The technical snafu apparently is not affecting the company’s streaming services.

Update: Directv said today (February 28) at 10:11 am ET that all channels have been returned in all markets. Yesterday’s story continues below.

Subscribers early this morning began posting complaints on social media and DIRECTV’s X customer help team soon acknowledged the issue.

See more news and TV tech features at TVAnswerMan.com.

“We’re working to resolve an issue affecting some satellite customers (error 771). We apologize and appreciate your patience,” @DIRECTVHelp told one upset user.

DIRECTV’s communications team has yet to issue a statement, but some customers say they’ve been told by the company’s customer service that a DIRECTV satellite is having issues.

“Well apparently @DIRECTV  has lost their 99 satellite. This is causing a major outage across the United States. It is primarily affecting local programming along with NFL Network among others. No real update from them as to what happened or when it will be resolved,” wrote one subscriber.

If a DIRECTV satellite subscriber has the set-top connected to the Internet, the company’s SignalSaver feature can switch the satellite signal to a streaming channel. DIRECTV’s customer help team on X says that might work for some customers in this outage.

The TV Answer Man has asked DIRECTV for a statement and will report back here if we receive one.

Update: DIRECTV’s X team issued this statement this afternoon: “We’re working to resolve an issue affecting some satellite customers. We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience. Satellite customers with a set-top-box connected to the internet may use SignalSaver to watch national and local stations.”

Update #2: DIRECTV’s communications team issued this statement at 3:49 p.m. ET.

“Some satellite customers are temporarily unable to watch HD channels because of a satellite positioning issue. We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate our customers’ patience while we work to bring the satellite back online. In the meantime, satellite customers can watch their programming through the DIRECTV app on mobile devices and connected TVs, or by activating SignalSaver on an internet-connected capable set-top-box.”

Update #3: At 9:30 a.m. ET, some users are reporting on social media that their local channels have returned.

Update #4, 9:50 a.m. ET: Directv’s X customer service team confirms that channels are back in some markets.

Have a question about new TV technologies? Send it to The TV Answer Man at swann@tvanswerman.com Please include your first name and hometown in your message.

The TV Answer Man is veteran journalist Phillip Swann who has covered the TV technology scene for more than three decades. He will report on the latest news and answer your questions regarding new devices and services that are changing the way you watch television. See the bio for Phillip Swann here.