If you read your agreement with Direct they promise to provide all your local stations. If you check other service providers they do provide them.
I got HD service a year before they provided any local stations, (all the time paying for local service) I finally got local stations but did not get all of them. Direct told me they were providing all they were going to. I told them to cancel the local service, they said I would have to cancel HD also. We finally agreed to keep everything as it was and I would not pay the $5.00 for local service ever, or until they provided the other stations, but about 6 months later they started charging it again. When I called to complain they said they had no record of the agreement, or that I had ever complained.
There are 8 providers in my area, all of them carry all the local stations and all the sub channels. "Caveat Emptor"