Most DirecTV customers can watch CBS on Channel 390 and 391. But if you don’t want to go all that way, it can be challenging to find the right channel where you can watch CBS.
The lowered numbered channel for CBS is in different places depending on where you live. As a broadcast channel, CBS is usually one of the first channels on your dial but that’s not always the case.
We did extensive research to find all the channels you can watch CBS on Directv.
Our methodology included looking at the channel lineups of the top 100 largest zip codes and cities in America to come up with the latest and most comprehensive guide on the internet.
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| DIRECTV CBS Guide | |||
Location | Channel | Location | Channel |
| Birmingham | 42, 390, 391 | Baltimore | 13, 390, 391 |
| Little Rock | 11, 390, 391 | Detroit | 62, 390, 391 |
| Yuma | 13, 390, 391 | Minneapolis | 4, 390, 391 |
| Phoenix | 5, 390, 391 | St. Louis | 4, 390, 391 |
| Los Angeles | 2, 390, 391 | Charlotte | 3, 390, 391 |
| San Diego | 8, 390, 391 | Omaha | 3, 390, 391 |
| Bakersfield | 29, 390, 391 | Albuquerque | 13, 390, 391 |
| Fresno | 47, 390, 391 | Las Vegas | 8, 390, 391 |
| San Francisco | 5, 390, 391 | New York | 2, 390, 391 |
| Sacramento | 13, 390, 391 | Columbus | 10, 390, 391 |
| Colorado Springs | 11, 390, 391 | Oklahoma City | 9, 390, 391 |
| Denver | 4, 390, 391 | Portland | 6, 390, 391 |
| Washington DC | 9, 390, 391 | Philadelphia | 3, 390, 391 |
| Jacksonville | 47, 390, 391 | Memphis | 3, 390, 391 |
| Fort Worth | 11, 390, 391 | Nashville | 5, 390, 391 |
| Miami | 4, 390, 391 | San Antonio | 5, 390, 391 |
| Tampa | 10, 390, 391 | El Paso | 4, 390, 391 |
| Orlando | 6, 390, 391 | Brownsville | 4, 390, 391 |
| Atlanta | 46, 390, 391 | Dallas | 11, 390, 391 |
| Honolulu | 9, 390, 391 | Houston | 11, 390, 391 |
| Chicago | 2, 390, 391 | Austin | 42, 390, 391 |
| Kansas City | 5, 390, 391 | Norfolk | 3, 390, 391 |
| Louisville | 4, 32, 390, 391 | Seattle | 7, 390, 391 |
| New Orleans | 4, 390, 391 | Boston | 4, 390, 391 |
You can check out our full guide to DirecTV channels as well as the CBS Sports channel here.
In Texas, the lowered numbered channel where you can watch CBS on your DirecTV service is Channel 4 for El Paso and Brownsville and Channel 11 for Dallas and Houston.
CBS is also available on lowered-numbered channels in San Antonio on Channel 5 and on Channel 42 in Austin.
And for all these cities, you will always have the option to watch on channels 390 and 391.
It’s much more chaotic in Florida. There CBS is on all different channels in the major cities in Florida. For example, CBS is on Channel 47 in Jacksonville but on Channel 4 in Miami.
That’s confusing and the best way to find the right channel is to just scan our list below to find where the channel is in your city in Florida.
Jacksonville: 47
Fort Worth: 11
Miami: 4
Tampa: 10
Orlando: 6
You can divide the CBS channels on DirecTV in California between Norcal and Socal.
Los Angeles is the dominant city in Southern California and the right channel to watch CBS in LA and its environs is Channel 2.
Channel 2 is not just the right channel to watch in the city of LA but in neighboring cities like Bell Gardens, Fontana, Hawthorne, Long Beach, Sylmar, and Santa Ana.
San Diego has their own CBS Channel though – Channel 8. Other cities near San Diego can also watch CBS on Channel 8 such as Escondido and Oceanside.
San Francisco is the equivalent of Los Angeles for Northern California. There, CBS is on Channel 5.
5 is also the right channel for cities like Oakland, Berkeley, Hayward, and San Jose.
There’s also other big cities in California besides LA and SF. CBS is on Channel 29 in Bakersfield, 47 in Fresno, and 13 in Sacramento.
The most common channels where you can watch CBS on DIRECTV in the rest of the country are 3, 4, 5, 9, and 13.
Channel 4 is the most popular channel for CBS. It’s also the right channel for Denver, Louisville, New Orleans, Boston, Minneapolis, and St Louis.
#2 is Channel 3 and it’s the place to watch in the cities of Norfolk, Charlotte, Omaha, Philadelphia, and Memphis.
Live in Phoenix, Kansas City, or Nashville? Then you’ll need to go to Channel 5 to start watching CBS.
One thing I’d like to highlight is that Channel 5 is very special in Kansas City. It’s a superstation called KCTV that will have a higher percentage of local content compared to most CBS affiliates.
Finally, for residents of Washington DC, Oklahoma City, and Honolulu, Channel 9 is the right DirecTV CBS channel.
Although CBS is usually one of the first channels on your TV, there are some big cities where that’s not the case.
Examples include Atlanta where CBS is on Channel 46, Detroit where the right channel for CBS is 62, and Birmingham where you need to go to Channel 42.
There’s also some big globally significant American cities where you’d want to watch CBS but don’t have much in common with the other cities that we researched.
We put the list of these cities and their respective channels below.
Chicago: 2
New York: 2
Portland: 6
Seattle: 7
Las Vegas: 8
Baltimore: 13
We put a lot of work into this guide, and we hope it was useful in helping you find the right channel to watch CBS on your DirecTV service.
Remember, you can also just go to channel 390 or 391 if you want to watch CBS as well and don’t want to think too hard.
As a satellite TV provider, the channel lineups are usually the same nationwide, but the broadcast channels are one of the few examples where that’s not the case.
If you don’t watch too much TV or you’re a CBS megafan, think about signing up for Paramount+.
It’s only $5.99 a month and it gives you access to all of CBS and Paramount’s content.
You can try it for free for 7 days by clicking the link below.
