FAST Channels added to DIRECTV Stream/Internet

[KyL416]

Now testing:
Surfer
OZ TV
Pure Flix TV

 

[CSM]

They are adding all these channels but won't add H&I to the DTV APP? I guess maybe METV and H&I are under the same contract and once their renewal is up that is when H&I would be available on the DTV APP?

 

[KyL416]

More are testing:
Total Crime
Declassified
Great American Adventures
Pickleball TV
T2

And these from A&E Networks:
Dance Moms by Lifetime
Torque by History
Jim Rome Show


Also, TIME shutdown earlier this week

 

[jamieh1]

Would love to see LiveNow from Fox and Military Hereos from the History Channel added.

 

[KyL416]

4418 Joel Osteen Network and 4540 Documentary+ are now live

 

[bluegras]

https://www.directv.com/insider/myfree-directv-announcement/

DIRECTV creates a dedicated home for curated FAST channel lineup; platform will give advertisers ability to expand reach.

DIRECTV, a leader in premium video entertainment and innovation, today announced plans to launch a dedicated free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) platform – MyFree DIRECTV – on November 15.

At launch, MyFree DIRECTV will provide viewers with direct access to curated FAST Channel content and an extensive On-Demand library, with additional channels slated to join the MyFree DIRECTV platform throughout 2025 and beyond. The service will be accessible nationwide online, via mobile, and on select smart TVs and streaming devices.

 

[dtv757]

I probably said this already but they added fox weather as a streaming ch, they should be able to add Weather ch español ! Would be a great add especially in the 400 ch range

 

[KyL416]

Weather Channel en Espanol might not be around for long. A bunch of its staff were let go earlier this week as part of Allen Media's ongoing budget cuts

EDIT: Spectrum is now sending out programming notices that Weather Channel en Español will cease at the end of the year:

Effective December 31, 2024, The Weather Channel en Español will cease programming and will no longer be available.

EDIT2: Verizon FiOS is now sending out notices saying that Pattrn is shutting down too

 

[KyL416]

These are now live:
4117 T2
4118 Surfer
4141 Pickleball TV
4273 Total Crime
4330 OZ TV
4368 Great American Adventures
4421 Pure Flix TV
4485 Declassified

 

[bluegras]

My free DirecTV is now live on Roku, smartphones and other locations too just to let you know

 

[KyL416]

Yep, it gives you the FAST channels in the 4000s along with Tastemade, The First, Cheddar News, Accuweather and FOX Weather

 

[KyL416]

Over a dozen additional FAST channels are now testing:
Curiosity Now
Waypoint TV
Swerve Combat
Stadium
ACC Digital Network
Big 12 Studios

These channels from Fremantle:
Buzzr
Let's Make a Deal
Rig TV
The Price is Right: Drew Carey
The Price is Right: The Barker Era
Jamie Oliver Channel
Supermarket Sweep

These are also still testing from A&E Networks:
Dance Moms by Lifetime
Torque by History
Jim Rome Show

 

[KyL416]

Another batch is testing:
Speedvision - like what happened with FuelTV, one of the founders of the original Speedvision acquired the rights from FOX and relaunched it
Drool
Hipstr
GoTraveler
America's Test Kitchen

And these from MagellanTV:
MagellanTV Now
True Crime Now
History & Warfare Now
Space Science Now

 

[bluegras]

Question when does DirecTV usually add new fast channels to their lineup? Good question right 👍 👍

 

[KyL416]

There has been no pattern. But I'm guessing this latest batch and possibly more will be enabled in time for next Friday's official launch of MyFree DIRECTV

 

[bluegras]

There has been no pattern. But I'm guessing this latest batch and possibly more will be enabled in time for next Friday's official launch of MyFree DIRECTV

Wondering the same thing also too just wondering too

 

[spiderman865]

I'm dating myself here. I remember back when D* was satellite only, new channels used to always be lit up Wednesday mornings about 6am eastern.

 

[harshness]

I'm dating myself here. I remember back when D* was satellite only, new channels used to always be lit up Wednesday mornings about 6am eastern.

That was back when there were new channels showing up that weren't streaming-originated. Streaming channels shouldn't require a lot of testing and validation.

Most new non-streaming channels are created by DIRECTV per event and they come and go as necessary to cover the event.

 

[KyL416]

As I explained earlier FAST channels need a lot of testing and that isn't a DIRECTV only thing:

It's usually about a month of testing. FAST channels rely on dynamic ad insertion and there are different origin and DAI providers they have to deal with like amagi, wurl, akamai, frequency, yospace, etc.

This isn't a DIRECTV only thing, the more established FAST players like Pluto and Xumo have similar delays between when channels first appear on their server and when they go live for users.

We already have several channels where that month+ of testing was crucial.

UEN took forever to start supplying guide data to Gracenote and even notified them in August that it would be on DTV channel 4161. But then it ended up not launching at all because back on September 3rd it stopped working when the upstream source abruptly switched midgame from a linear Amagi playout stream to a Solaos VOD playlist with no fixed schedule.

The Actve.tv sourced channels have been in flux too. i.e. about a month prior to launch The Dr Oz FAST channel was an action sports channel from Snowboarder magazine. Surfer is the only actve.tv channel that still has its original magazine tied format as Bike rebranded to Nitro Circus, Skateboarding rebranded to Team Liquid eSports and today Powder rebranded to Popular Science.

Prior to launch some of the AETN channels like Tiny House Nation were pixelated messes because the encoder had problems handling the inconsistencies with the playlist stitching that Wurl uses to create their linear channels.


That's just getting the base feeds ingested part. With FAST you also have to deal with ad insertion too and heavily test that to make sure it's configured properly so it triggers the discontinuity tags in the manfiests and only fetches the renditions from the various upstream DAI providers that match the framerates and codecs used by the base feed as mismatches can cause crashes on the end user's device.