Locast Issue - NFL live feed freezing and pixelating (Seattle Area)

I am new to Channels and TV streaming.
I am using Locast for my local feeds as I can not get ota from where I live.
I am using Spectrum for my non-local feeds.

I am seeing streaming issues when I watch NFL live programming (see issues below) using Locast.

From my trouble shooting analysis (see below) - it looks like I am ONLY getting this issue when I am streaming live NFL (this is very frustrating) on Locast.
It is

  • not an internet issue
  • not a channels/dvr issue
  • not seen on any other Locast stream or recording

I have had this issue twice.
Once on the Thursdays Night NFL opener.
And now on the Sunday Seahawks game.
On both cases the issue disappeared about 1 hour into the game.

This make me think that

  • Locast has issue when alot of user try to stream the same feed
  • The issues disappear when people get frustrated with the Locast feed and go to a local bar or a friends house
    I don't know - this is just a guess.

Is anyone else having this issue?
Anyone find a fix for this problem?

Thanks

ISSUES
Image pixelates
Image freezes - when it restarts it skips ahead and you miss the play-by-play action
Picture quality does not look sharpe

TROUBLE SHOOTING 1
I was wondering if the was an internet issue.
If I change my feed from the Locast-NFL feed to a Spectrum-Sports-Live-Feed the problem goes away.
The Spectum picture is crisp with no pixelation or freezing - basically as good as it gets.
So this tells me

  • it is not an internet issue (both feeds come over the same internet)
  • it is not a channels/dvr issue (both feed come over channels/dvr)
  • it is a Locast issue (spectrum feed is not having the problem)

TROUBLE SHOOTING 2
Maybe the problem is a Locast issue with my Channels app or my Channels DVR.
I am running Channels on Apple HD TV using a Synology NAS.
So I logged on to Locast directly on my computer (bypass the Channels configuration totally).
And I am getting the same issue.
So this tells me

  • it is not a Locast-Channels-DVR configuration issue
  • this is a Locast issue (same problems on a direct connection to Locast)

TROUBLE SHOOTING 3
Is this happening on all Locast feeds or just the Live Sports feed.
When I switch to other Locast channels (from the Live NFL feed) - I get a crisp image with no pixelation or freezing.
Also we record/watch a fair bit of local programming - but we are only seeing this on the NFL games (live feeds).
So this tells me

  • it is localized to Locast when watching live NFL games

I agree this is likely a locast issue. They probably have a lot of users for nfl games. To confirm it you could play it directly from locast (not using channels). If you see the same issues there you know it’s a locast issue.

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In Minnesota here, mine also froze several times during the first half of the early games. Everything is wired through ethernet, 600Mbps internet speed, and went through similar troubleshooting as you. I came to the same conclusion, seemed to be Locast being overwhelmed. Hopefully they can resolve this over time, but yeah it was interesting that it resolved after a while...people just giving up on it makes sense.

Same here in Los Angeles

Same here via Locast Seahawks game, had waited to watch recording, but recording got delayed nearly an hour. Most other Locast recordings work quite well. I would also guess demand issue being the cause.

I do have local OTA available, but a little low on signal quality, but for games I may just have to use it VS locast :frowning:

Go Hawks!

I ended up opening a trouble ticket with Locast.
They responded with in 24 hours.
It looks like the issue was on their end - they are working on it - and hope to have a resolution soon.
Here is their response ;

Thanks for reaching out. We are aware of the technical issues some users experienced yesterday regarding freezing, buffering, or being booted from their stream during the football games. Our engineering team is working hard to solve the problem so that we will not have this issue again, and we continue to make updates to the platform to provide more resources around football games.

We apologize for any inconvenience

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