diff --git a/cmd/server/db.go b/cmd/server/db.go
index aadcebd9..a2095949 100644
--- a/cmd/server/db.go
+++ b/cmd/server/db.go
@@ -1153,8 +1153,48 @@ func (db *DB) GetTraces(hash string) ([]map[string]interface{}, error) {
 // Queries transmissions directly (not a VIEW) to avoid observation-level
 // duplicates that could cause stale lastMessage when an older message has
 // a later re-observation timestamp.
-func (db *DB) GetChannels() ([]map[string]interface{}, error) {
-	rows, err := db.conn.Query(`SELECT decoded_json, first_seen FROM transmissions WHERE payload_type = 5 ORDER BY first_seen ASC`)
+func (db *DB) GetChannels(region ...string) ([]map[string]interface{}, error) {
+	regionParam := ""
+	if len(region) > 0 {
+		regionParam = region[0]
+	}
+	regionCodes := normalizeRegionCodes(regionParam)
+
+	var querySQL string
+	args := make([]interface{}, 0, len(regionCodes))
+
+	if len(regionCodes) > 0 {
+		placeholders := make([]string, len(regionCodes))
+		for i, code := range regionCodes {
+			placeholders[i] = "?"
+			args = append(args, code)
+		}
+		regionPlaceholder := strings.Join(placeholders, ",")
+		if db.isV3 {
+			querySQL = fmt.Sprintf(`SELECT DISTINCT t.decoded_json, t.first_seen
+				FROM transmissions t
+				JOIN observations o ON o.transmission_id = t.id
+				LEFT JOIN observers obs ON obs.rowid = o.observer_idx
+				WHERE t.payload_type = 5
+				AND obs.rowid IS NOT NULL AND UPPER(TRIM(obs.iata)) IN (%s)
+				ORDER BY t.first_seen ASC`, regionPlaceholder)
+		} else {
+			querySQL = fmt.Sprintf(`SELECT DISTINCT t.decoded_json, t.first_seen
+				FROM transmissions t
+				JOIN observations o ON o.transmission_id = t.id
+				WHERE t.payload_type = 5
+				AND EXISTS (
+					SELECT 1 FROM observers obs
+					WHERE obs.id = o.observer_id
+					AND UPPER(TRIM(obs.iata)) IN (%s)
+				)
+				ORDER BY t.first_seen ASC`, regionPlaceholder)
+		}
+	} else {
+		querySQL = `SELECT decoded_json, first_seen FROM transmissions WHERE payload_type = 5 ORDER BY first_seen ASC`
+	}
+
+	rows, err := db.conn.Query(querySQL, args...)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
diff --git a/cmd/server/db_test.go b/cmd/server/db_test.go
index c72809ea..2783cdb0 100644
--- a/cmd/server/db_test.go
+++ b/cmd/server/db_test.go
@@ -1504,6 +1504,61 @@ func TestGetChannelsStaleMessage(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestGetChannelsRegionFiltering(t *testing.T) {
+	db := setupTestDB(t)
+	defer db.Close()
+
+	db.conn.Exec(`INSERT INTO observers (id, name, iata) VALUES ('obs1', 'Observer1', 'SJC')`)
+	db.conn.Exec(`INSERT INTO observers (id, name, iata) VALUES ('obs2', 'Observer2', 'SFO')`)
+
+	// Channel message seen only in SJC
+	db.conn.Exec(`INSERT INTO transmissions (raw_hex, hash, first_seen, route_type, payload_type, decoded_json)
+		VALUES ('AA', 'hash1', '2026-01-15T10:00:00Z', 1, 5,
+		'{"type":"CHAN","channel":"#sjc-only","text":"Alice: Hello SJC","sender":"Alice"}')`)
+	db.conn.Exec(`INSERT INTO observations (transmission_id, observer_idx, snr, rssi, timestamp)
+		VALUES (1, 1, 12.0, -90, 1736935200)`)
+
+	// Channel message seen only in SFO
+	db.conn.Exec(`INSERT INTO transmissions (raw_hex, hash, first_seen, route_type, payload_type, decoded_json)
+		VALUES ('BB', 'hash2', '2026-01-15T10:05:00Z', 1, 5,
+		'{"type":"CHAN","channel":"#sfo-only","text":"Bob: Hello SFO","sender":"Bob"}')`)
+	db.conn.Exec(`INSERT INTO observations (transmission_id, observer_idx, snr, rssi, timestamp)
+		VALUES (2, 2, 14.0, -88, 1736935500)`)
+
+	// No region filter — both channels
+	all, err := db.GetChannels()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if len(all) != 2 {
+		t.Fatalf("expected 2 channels without region filter, got %d", len(all))
+	}
+
+	// Filter SJC — only #sjc-only
+	sjc, err := db.GetChannels("SJC")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if len(sjc) != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("expected 1 channel for SJC, got %d", len(sjc))
+	}
+	if sjc[0]["name"] != "#sjc-only" {
+		t.Errorf("expected channel '#sjc-only', got %q", sjc[0]["name"])
+	}
+
+	// Filter SFO — only #sfo-only
+	sfo, err := db.GetChannels("SFO")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if len(sfo) != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("expected 1 channel for SFO, got %d", len(sfo))
+	}
+	if sfo[0]["name"] != "#sfo-only" {
+		t.Errorf("expected channel '#sfo-only', got %q", sfo[0]["name"])
+	}
+}
+
 func TestNodeTelemetryFields(t *testing.T) {
 	db := setupTestDB(t)
 	defer db.Close()
diff --git a/cmd/server/routes.go b/cmd/server/routes.go
index 7985622a..f194bfbd 100644
--- a/cmd/server/routes.go
+++ b/cmd/server/routes.go
@@ -1655,18 +1655,23 @@ func (s *Server) handleResolveHops(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 }
 
 func (s *Server) handleChannels(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+	region := r.URL.Query().Get("region")
+	// Prefer DB for full history (in-memory store has limited retention)
+	if s.db != nil {
+		channels, err := s.db.GetChannels(region)
+		if err != nil {
+			writeError(w, 500, err.Error())
+			return
+		}
+		writeJSON(w, ChannelListResponse{Channels: channels})
+		return
+	}
 	if s.store != nil {
-		region := r.URL.Query().Get("region")
 		channels := s.store.GetChannels(region)
 		writeJSON(w, ChannelListResponse{Channels: channels})
 		return
 	}
-	channels, err := s.db.GetChannels()
-	if err != nil {
-		writeError(w, 500, err.Error())
-		return
-	}
-	writeJSON(w, ChannelListResponse{Channels: channels})
+	writeJSON(w, ChannelListResponse{Channels: []map[string]interface{}{}})
 }
 
 func (s *Server) handleChannelMessages(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
@@ -1674,17 +1679,22 @@ func (s *Server) handleChannelMessages(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	limit := queryInt(r, "limit", 100)
 	offset := queryInt(r, "offset", 0)
 	region := r.URL.Query().Get("region")
+	// Prefer DB for full history (in-memory store has limited retention)
+	if s.db != nil {
+		messages, total, err := s.db.GetChannelMessages(hash, limit, offset, region)
+		if err != nil {
+			writeError(w, 500, err.Error())
+			return
+		}
+		writeJSON(w, ChannelMessagesResponse{Messages: messages, Total: total})
+		return
+	}
 	if s.store != nil {
 		messages, total := s.store.GetChannelMessages(hash, limit, offset, region)
 		writeJSON(w, ChannelMessagesResponse{Messages: messages, Total: total})
 		return
 	}
-	messages, total, err := s.db.GetChannelMessages(hash, limit, offset, region)
-	if err != nil {
-		writeError(w, 500, err.Error())
-		return
-	}
-	writeJSON(w, ChannelMessagesResponse{Messages: messages, Total: total})
+	writeJSON(w, ChannelMessagesResponse{Messages: []map[string]interface{}{}, Total: 0})
 }
 
 func (s *Server) handleObservers(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {