CRASSER: Simply put, it's called a "spot beam" from your location...maybe 100(?) miles in diameter.
Move more than 100 miles away, you'll be able to get all the "cable" stations (CNN. FOXNEWS, Discovery, History, etc., etc. etc.), but the local networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, etc.) will not play.
For the local networks, I simply use my over-the-air "batwing" directional and amplified antenna. All my stuff goes thru a passive junction box, so I just push the correct button and there we are.
((When in, say Phoenix, why would I care what the weather is in NYC?))