TPT Minnesota - how to negotiate to get it back

You'll have to work with the housing complex owners and the company that provides those DirecTV and off-air channels. DirecTV does not handle housing complexes.

If a PBS station was there, it seem unlikely that it would be dropped/blacked out for financial reasons.  I think it could be for DMA reasons, or (if satellite) for transponder space reasons.

With regard to this being in a housing complex - is this DirecTV satellite or streaming?  Satellite does have offerings for MDUs (multiple dwelling units), though I think it is only sold and provisioned by channel partners rather than directly. 

The streaming service technically wouldn't need anything special for a MDU provided there was adequate internet service to each unit, but I'd guess the pricing would be excessive for that environment.  I assume if the long(ish) term plan is to have the streaming service replace the satellite service then they will need to come up with  a business plan to address that market.

The service is through "Aufderworld" which provides Directv service to senior housing buildings. This is not streaming. It's old-fashioned coax. I have asked and asked and asked. I am about ready to give up. They just keep telling me Directv doesn't carry that channel anymore, so they (Aufderworld) doesn't either. My mother is barely able to run a remote. She will never be able to handle different inputs to access it via antenna. I have considered putting a second, small TV in her apartment that is always just on TPT MN. But then I'm sure she'd mix up the remotes.

What's her zip code?  Let's see if Directv has this channel in their locals and if it's gone there is nothing anyone can do about it. However, most  systems for senior building actually don't deliver Directv as such to the TVs, they have a fixed number of tuners and each one is allocated to a station, and the delivery is then through conventional TV. If that's the case, and she used to get the station she wants, then it would be possible to get it back. What station does she get when she sets her TV to the slot in the channel listings where her favorite station used to be?

She's in zip code 55391. When I go to the station where TPT MN is supposed to be, they are showing TPT Life (which is also showing on it's original station - so they are showing TPT Life on two channels). Hopefully, that makes sense. THank you!

This is really complicated because of TPTs use of subchannels. But as far as I can tell, TPT MN is still on directv. That means that someone at the retirement complex, or at aufderworld, has probably screwed up and allocated the tuner in the retirement complex to the wrong subchannel. 

You need to get back to aufderworld and find the person who actually allocates tuners to channels in your mothers retirement complex. Probably no-one in the complex understands this. Most people at aufderworld won't understand it either. Directv will almost certainly be be of no help.

It's also possible that TPT has changed the subchannel TPT MN is transmitted on. PBS stations seem to do this type of change more often.

You could certainly also contact TPT and ask them if they have changed anything on their side of things