Channels on DIRECTV Satellite and not on Stream/Internet

[dtv757]

4K telemundo working !

406 still SD here in Norfolk Va

 

[KyL416]

Gray's Tallahassee Telemundo affiliate WTFL-LD/15 is testing on the stream server

EDIT: It's now live as of 7/28

 

[KyL416]

WNPX/28 Nashville (The new home of the Predators) and WMYD/20 Detroit (the new home of the Pistons) are testing on the stream server.

 

[KyL416]

KSBI/52 Oklahoma City (The new home of the Thunder) is testing on the streaming server. The Tulsa station KQCW/19 is already available.

It's not testing yet, but there will also be a feed on channel 675 for those outside of the OKC and Tulsa DMAs in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska.

They're also testing Clippers and Predators feeds, and there will likely be feeds for the Pistons, Magic, Bucks and Hornets whose outer market coverage will mostly be limited to non-carried subchannels, along with the Stars, Blues, Blue Jackets, Hurricanes and Wild who are doing a hybrid of Prime Video + dedicated channel for cable and sat.

 

[mario315]

On DTV Stream I've encountered a riddle which I think only KyL416 can untangle.... As I was setting up a recording yesterday for a live event on UniMas West (ch. 408) the DTV Stream Guide popped up with multiple channel options, see photo below... One of the options was UniMas-WAMI (Miami Ch. 69) which is not available in my market on Stream but it is available on Satellite (West Palm Beach, FL). This is the East Coast affiliate feed for UniMas out of Miami.

The problem is that as you can see in the photo UniMas-WAMI is being offered as a "Subscribe" option even though I already subscribe to the Ultimate Package and to the Latino package... Logically, I should be able to get it without any other subscription needed.... I checked online to see if UniMas-WAMI or UniMas-East were being offered as a la carte options on Stream and there were no mentions of either.

Obviously, if one lives on the East Coast we should be able to get the UniMas- East feed if it is available on Stream, which apparently it is. But there is this big rock standing in the way.

So, Kyl416 can you help out with this mystery ? Thanks much !

 

[KyL416]

Obviously, if one lives on the East Coast we should be able to get the UniMas- East feed if it is available on Stream, which apparently it is.

DIRECTV doesn't carry the national feed of UniMas East on satellite or stream, only the West Coast national feed on channel 408 and the local feed in select markets.

WAMI showing up might be a GeoIP detection issue since West Palm Beach is close enough to Miami that some ISPs don't give it a separate range.

 

[mario315]

DIRECTV doesn't carry the national feed of UniMas East on satellite or stream, only the West Coast national feed on channel 408 and the local feed in select markets.

WAMI showing up might be a GeoIP detection issue since West Palm Beach is close enough to Miami that some ISPs don't give it a separate range.

Thanks ! But when I lived in Miami DTV Stream did not carry WAMI 69 in the local package... So I still would not be able to see WAMI now even if my ISP location registered the Miami DMA. Where would Stream be finding WAMI to list it as a channel option ?

 

[KyL416]

WAMI is available in both markets, satellite customers in West Palm Beach get a mirror.

Up until recently the UniMas locals weren't available in the streaming packages, they might have made them exclusive to MiEspañol

 

[mario315]

WAMI is available in both markets, satellite customers in West Palm Beach get a mirror.

Up until recently the UniMas locals weren't available in the streaming packages, they might have made them exclusive to MiEspañol

Ok, thanks, that might be what's happening...... I'll check out those MiEspanol packages to see if WAMI is in there--- which would explain the "Subscribe" tag in the Guide.

I'd have to see if that alternate lineup is good enough to replace my current legacy Spanish package. And not lose Ultimate.

Getting a UniMas East local feed would be great but not at the expense of perhaps losing channels I watch now.

 

[mario315]

Mystery solved. This morning there is this new pop up message on Stream when you click on UniMas- WAMI, see photos ..... So I guess they will be adding the channel to the West Palm Beach local channels soon-- to match Satellite in this market.

This is the first time I see Stream pre-announce a new channel coming in the Guide itself..... Nonetheless, listing it as available for a subscription now is rather confusing.

And I did check the Mi Espanol pack in WPB and Miami and none of them carry the channel, nor does Mas Optimo.

 

[mario315]

Independent station WTCN Channel 43 in West Palm Beach was downgraded to SD on DTV Stream about 2 weeks ago. It has been carried in HD for at least the 3 years that I've had Stream. The station continues to air its 1080i HD signal OTA on 43.1 so it makes no sense why DTV has done this.

It's owned by Sinclair and DTV Stream and Satellite carry all of WTCN's sister channels in WPB in HD, including on Satellite WTCN HD.

 

[KyL416]

WTCN-CD is a 15 kW Class A station, they're probably now ingesting it via the SD simulcast on the full power WTVX 34.3

 

[mario315]

WTCN-CD is a 15 kW Class A station, they're probably now ingesting it via the SD simulcast on the full power WTVX 34.3

Thanks, KyL416 .... can you check whether WTCN on Satellite has also been switched to the SD simulcast from WTVX ?

And for me to understand, after years of picking up the HD signal why would this downgrade to the SD simulcast occur ?

 

[KyL416]

They never carried it in HD on sat. In general, on satellite Class A/LPTV and subchannels tend to only be carried in SD unless they are the market's Big 4 affiliate since the offer HD carriage to one, offer HD carriage to all rule only applies to full power primaries.

Being on the coast WTCN-CD's low power signal might have been getting wiped out by atmospheric boost on a semi-regular basis as in the right conditions the water can act as a conduit to Florida and bring in signals from as far away as the Carolinas, Texas and the Caribbean Islands, so they switched to WTVX's full power simulcast.

 

[mario315]

They never carried it in HD on sat. In general, on satellite Class A/LPTV and subchannels tend to only be carried in SD unless they are the market's Big 4 affiliate since the offer HD carriage to one, offer HD carriage to all rule only applies to full power primaries.

Being on the coast WTCN-CD's low power signal might have been getting wiped out by atmospheric boost on a semi-regular basis as in the right conditions the water can act as a conduit to Florida and bring in signals from as far away as the Carolinas, Texas and the Caribbean Islands, so they switched to WTVX's full power simulcast.

Very interesting to hear this, thanks for the background !

I would have thought that if the WTCN signal had problems then DTV would have requested a fiber connection or internet-delivered version instead of OTA reception.

The station carries college sports so to watch sports in SD in 2026 seems primitive. The HBCU football game they are carrying right now on WTCN could not look worse on DTV Stream (since it is a SD sub-channel from WTVX).

 

[KyL416]

It's on the station to pay for a fiber or dedicated IP connection, most markets are ingesting their locals OTA.

 

[mario315]

It's on the station to pay for a fiber or dedicated IP connection, most markets are ingesting their locals OTA.

Thanks ! Well, if any station group can afford to do this it would be Sinclair, they own 4 stations in the market.

With this heads up from KyL416 I'll reach out to the Sinclair Chief Engineer for WPB on Monday and see what he says about this signal change.

Given that You Tube TV and Xfinity carry WTCN HD I'd like to hear from him why they can't make the same happen for DTV anymore.

 

[mario315]

Well, this is awkward. Today the Miami Heat announced that their games in West Palm Beach this season will be aired on WTCN Channel 43, the Sinclair independent... and the station which DTV Stream downgraded from HD to SD a few weeks ago. Makes you wonder if the Heat is aware of this.

I did find the WTCN Chief Engineer (Bill Macbeth) and he said he knew nothing of what DTV Stream had done. Will look into it and get back to me.

 

[harshness]

One might get the impression that what DIRECTV does, or doesn't, is becoming far less consequential than it used to be.