Pluto TV Sky News missing

How long has Sky News been on Pluto TV?
There's a few recent posts on Reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/Pluto_TV/comments/sots0x/sky_news_down/

It’s been there at least a month, but I think even longer than that.

Looks like it's been there for at least a year List of channels on Pluto TV – TVCL – TV Channel Lists

I never remember seeing it in Channels listings.

@maddox Could it be the Pluto TV API you use doesn't surface it, or maybe your code inadvertantly filters it out?

Re: Sky News channel
I have to look what it's checking, but it's being filtered (my fork of the generator)

[DEBUG] Skipping fake/duplicate channel Sky News

In case anyone is interested, here's the channel change activity since the start of the year....

02/08/22 12:00 Channel add detected: Perry Mason channel (9524)
02/08/22 12:00 Total changes detected: 1 added, 0 deleted
02/04/22 16:00 Channel delete detected: PeopleTV channel (9192)
02/04/22 16:00 Channel delete detected: Wings channel (9456)
02/04/22 16:00 Total changes detected: 0 added, 2 deleted
02/02/22 12:00 Channel delete detected: Chassy channel (9687)
02/02/22 12:00 Total changes detected: 0 added, 1 deleted
02/01/22 02:00 Channel add detected: Vevo True School Hip-Hop channel (9880)
02/01/22 02:00 Channel add detected: CBS News Miami channel (1027)
02/01/22 02:00 Total changes detected: 2 added, 0 deleted
01/24/22 10:00 Channel add detected: CBS News channel (9204)
01/24/22 10:00 Channel add detected: CBS News New York channel (9206)
01/24/22 10:00 Channel add detected: CBS News Los Angeles channel (9207)
01/24/22 10:00 Channel add detected: CBS News Bay Area channel (1021)
01/24/22 10:00 Channel add detected: CBS News Boston channel (1022)
01/24/22 10:00 Channel add detected: CBS News Chicago channel (1023)
01/24/22 10:00 Channel add detected: CBS News DFW channel (1024)
01/24/22 10:00 Channel add detected: CBS News Colorado channel (1025)
01/24/22 10:00 Channel add detected: CBS News Los Angeles channel (1026)
01/24/22 10:00 Channel add detected: CBS News Minnesota channel (1028)
01/24/22 10:00 Channel add detected: CBS News New York channel (1029)
01/24/22 10:00 Channel add detected: CBS News Philly channel (1030)
01/24/22 10:00 Channel add detected: CBS News Pittsburgh channel (1031)
01/24/22 10:00 Channel add detected: CBS News Sacramento channel (1032)
01/24/22 10:00 Channel add detected: CBS News Baltimore channel (1033)
01/24/22 10:00 Channel delete detected: CBSN channel (9204)
01/24/22 10:00 Channel delete detected: CBSN Bay Area channel (1021)
01/24/22 10:00 Channel delete detected: CBSN Boston channel (1022)
01/24/22 10:00 Channel delete detected: CBSN Chicago channel (1023)
01/24/22 10:00 Channel delete detected: CBSN Dallas channel (1024)
01/24/22 10:00 Channel delete detected: CBSN Denver channel (1025)
01/24/22 10:00 Channel delete detected: CBSN Los Angeles channel (1026)
01/24/22 10:00 Channel delete detected: CBSN Minnesota channel (1028)
01/24/22 10:00 Channel delete detected: CBSN New York channel (1029)
01/24/22 10:00 Channel delete detected: CBSN Philly channel (1030)
01/24/22 10:00 Channel delete detected: CBSN Pittsburgh channel (1031)
01/24/22 10:00 Channel delete detected: CBSN Sacramento channel (1032)
01/24/22 10:00 Channel delete detected: CBSN Baltimore channel (1033)
01/24/22 10:00 Total changes detected: 15 added, 13 deleted
01/12/22 18:00 Channel delete detected: Pluto TV Christmas channel (9116)
01/12/22 18:00 Channel delete detected: Pluto TV Mistletoe channel (9117)
01/12/22 18:00 Channel delete detected: Home for the Holidays channel (9118)
01/12/22 18:00 Channel delete detected: Cine navideA±o channel (9119)
01/12/22 18:00 Channel delete detected: Crackling Fireplace channel (9120)
01/12/22 18:00 Channel delete detected: Festive Fireplace channel (9121)
01/12/22 18:00 Channel delete detected: Holiday Lights channel (9122)
01/12/22 18:00 Channel delete detected: Vevo Holiday channel (9123)
01/12/22 18:00 Channel delete detected: Nosey casos channel (9967)
01/12/22 18:00 Total changes detected: 0 added, 9 deleted
01/11/22 12:00 Channel add detected: Always Funny Videos channel (9494)
01/11/22 12:00 Channel delete detected: AFV TV channel (9494)
01/11/22 12:00 Total changes detected: 1 added, 1 deleted
01/11/22 00:00 Channel add detected: Best of The Drew Barrymore Show channel (9156)
01/11/22 00:00 Channel add detected: Acapulco Shore channel (9952)
01/11/22 00:00 Channel add detected: BBC Kids channel (9985)
01/11/22 00:00 Channel add detected: NiA±os por BBC Kids channel (9987)
01/11/22 00:00 Total changes detected: 4 added, 0 deleted
01/07/22 18:00 Channel delete detected: Dr. Oz channel (9156)
01/07/22 18:00 Total changes detected: 0 added, 1 deleted
01/03/22 00:00 Channel delete detected: Pluto TV 007 channel (9050)
01/03/22 00:00 Channel delete detected: PursuitUP channel (9756)
01/03/22 00:00 Channel delete detected: Pluto TV 007 en espaA±ol channel (9900)
01/03/22 00:00 Total changes detected: 0 added, 3 deleted

Nice find!

I should have thought of looking at the container log. Seeing the same thing on mine.

[DEBUG] Skipping 'fake' channel Sky News.

@maddox Would you be able to fix this?

It looks like something that will need to be addressed on Pluto's end.
It's failing the test for 'isStitched' which means there is no stream url included in the json.
(Verified by looking at the raw json)

Ahh, they need to provide the channel id in the service-stitcher url in order to stream it as hls.
Maybe they just overlooked that?
Appears it's the only channel not showing as stitched.

I know it’s not the exactly the same thing as Pluto integration but I wanted to share what’s been working for me with regards to Sky News. Their own webpage links to their YouTube Live stream that's been running since November 2019:

And the “hlstube” docker can turn link that into an HLS stream M3U for use in Channels DVR. I use this for a Channel Collection of various webcams around the world too. It’s not perfect, sometimes it doesn't start when channel surfing quickly, but a second try always loads, and then it streams fine, continuously.

I was also able to add some EPG from Channels DVR by searching "all lineups" and selecting SKYNWS.

2 Likes

I see what you mean now about adding the EPG to the custom channel by editing the lineup and then clicking the "+" and selecting all channels and searching SKYNWS to get the EPG associated with the custom channel you made.

Did you run into any issues with port conflicts between Maddox Pluto Docker running on 8080 and the HLSTube wanting to run on 8080 as well? I changed it to 8085:8080 but I'm struggling to get a stream to work and wondering if this is my issue or not.

Lol, I figured it out. I thought that since it was called "HLS stream..." that I should select HLS as the type when creating the custom source, but apparently I needed to select "mpeg-ts" instead. I was looking at the content in the file that was being generated by the HLStube service and noticed that the urls ended with a .ts and thought I'd try that after finding that VLC had no issues streaming from the same source I was using in Channels. So, long story short, I've got it working. Thanks for the idea Fofer!

I'm using port 8383 for hlstube, and am not having that issue. Sometimes when channel surfing, I'll get an error on first try when accessing an hsltube stream, but if I exit that channel and go right back to it, it connects on the 2nd try, every time. It's as if hlstube needs a moment to wake up from sleep, and Channels is giving up before it finishes. Simply surfing right back to the same channel gets it streaming though.

I'm also no longer using the docker for Pluto integration though, I'm using nocords.xyz.

1 Like

Hmm, the Custom Channels I've added this way (including Sky News by way of their YouTube livestream and hlstube) are using HLS as the stream format. I don't know why changing it to mpeg-ts would fix it for you, but I'm glad you've got it working nonetheless.

1 Like

Well I think I spoke too soon. With the mpeg-ts setting it streams for about a minute and then says connection lost and won't restart. If I select the HLS option I get an error on the screen saying "cannot parse the playlist..." followed by the URL which is located in the m3u content from the HLStube service. Guess I've got to keep trying lol.

What does your source m3u text block look like? It should be something like this. Replace the channel number (999) with whatever you want.

#EXTM3U

#EXTINF:-1 channel-id="TWiT" tvg-chno="999" tvg-id="" tvg-name="" tvg-language="" tvg-logo="https://1000logos.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Sky-News-Logo-2013.png" tvg-country="US" tvg-url="" group-title="News",SkyNews
http://localhost:8085/_/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Auq9mYxFEE
3 Likes

Oh wow, no I was doing something completely different. Sorry that was my lack of understanding. I was putting the "http://localhost:8085/_/https:://www.youtube.com/..." in as the URL in the "source" value in the channels interface, not creating a custom m3u value with the "text" option. That worked beautifully!! Thank you so much!

1 Like

You're welcome, glad it's working for you too. Very cool stuff. It's fun to find more YouTube Live content that hlstube can serve up to Channels DVR. There's lots of background music, webcams, and other interesting content out there. I've found some of these streams change URLs after a few weeks, so the m3u needs to be updated to match. That's why finding ones like Sky News that last for years, is the best! Enjoy.

I've found some of these streams change URLs after a few weeks, so the m3u needs to be updated to match.

I don't use hlstube but a similar youtube-dl docker. Here's a YouTube tip: if the stream keeps changing but the YouTube channel it's posted on remains the same, you can append "/live" to the channel URL and it will redirect to the latest livestream. Unfortunately channels with multiple live streams like Sky News will not always redirect to the same stream.

Example: https://www.youtube.com/c/NBCNews/live

That's great information, I wonder if that redirect would work with hlstube as well? I'll have to give it a shot. Thanks for sharing.

1 Like

It works in youtube-dl which is what hlstube is built on, so you should be good to go.

1 Like

Working in Pluto for Channels now. Looks like it was just added this morning.
Guide is showing one hour blocks titled 'Sky News Live' and it streams for me.

2 Likes