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Tuesday, March 2nd, 2021 12:13 AM

Junk shopping channels are duplicated, and un-authorized channels have been added

When scrolling through the TV guide, I noticed that my channels 76 and 79 are both QVC2. It's not that one is QVC1 and the other is QVC2, or that one is HD while the other is SD - they are both the exact same QVC2 channel, with the exact same content. And QVC2 isn't even supposed to be either of those channels for me - the official channel lineup list (https://www.att.com/idpassets/pdfs/channel_lineups/DIRECTV-ChannelPackageLineUp.pdf) says very clearly that QVC2 should be channel 315. Not 76, and not 79 - so what is it doing at those two channels?

Why is this junk channel duplicated? In fact, why are all the channels #70-99 duplicates of shopping channels that already have another channel number? This makes it much more annoying to channel surf, as there is a block of 29 useless shopping channels between my local content and pay-per-view movies that I might be interested in (I almost always skip all those too, but at least they are legit content). Of my 165+ channel package, how many of those are actually duplicates of the shopping channels that I do NOT want in the first place? That sounds like false advertising to me. I know I can block the channel based on its number, but considering that it's a duplicate (and hopefully that's some odd system error) - what is the channel that should actually be at that number? Would I be blocking a useful channel when the problem is resumed?

Also, look up channel 320. It's not on the official package lineup at any price tier, but it appears on my TV guide and I confirmed that I do get it on my TV. It's the Scientology channel, featuring programs like "Ask a Scientologist". Yes, scientology. DirecTV has a channel just for it. I can post a screenshot, but it's already listed on the channel's wikipedia page so you can easily confirm for yourself https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology_Network.

Finally, I'd like a channel listing of ONLY my channels, in numerical order. That makes it much easier for me to highlight the ones I favor. The PDF I linked above cannot be pasted into an Excel or Word document due to its formatting, and the font is so tiny that when printed it is illegible. And it's in alphabetical order, and lists all the channels of all the packages. I tried to write my own listing of the channels I get, because that's the only option remaining, but that's how I discovered that the channels were duplicates, and there are 'phantom' channels like 320 that do not appear on the listing. 

Accepted Solution

Official Solution

ACE - Expert

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22.9K Messages

4 years ago

@AVeryConfusedUser 

Setup a custom favorites list sorted out not only to just the channels you receive, but hiding ones you don't care to watch.

A printable channel lineup like you want no longer exists. DirecTV discontinued most versions of one as was only as current as when it was printed and many techs or 3rd party retailers kept outdated lists on hand that misinformed customers. Also supported their "going green" initiative to reduce paper waste.

The Scientology channel doesn't need to be proven as has existed since March 2018. Like other religious type channels it is with most packages. Being missing from the channel lineup is an issue as that has been updated well after the channel was added to DirecTV.

Shopping networks pay for their channel slots, which can include a duplicate station for a wider reach of viewers.

ACE - Expert

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21.1K Messages

4 years ago

Then setup a favorites/custom list of only the channels you watch,  Those shopping channels pay to be carried.


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