NBC Sports channel unexpectedly disappears from some Apple TV boxes – Apple Insider

By Neil Hughes
Friday, May 01, 2015, 11:39 am PT (02:39 pm ET)

In the midst of the NHL playoffs and hype for the Kentucky Derby, a number of users have found that the Apple TV channel to stream those events, NBC Sports Live Extra, has unexpectedly disappeared from their set-top box.

The NBC Sports Live Extra channel, which debuted earlier this week, is the exclusive home of popular sports content. But some who found the channel on their Apple TV at launch have since discovered that it has disappeared and can no longer be accessed.

Multiple readers who reached out to AppleInsider indicated that they had successfully activated and used the NBC Sports channel on their Apple TV, only for it to vanish. One person had their feed cut out and the channel disappear in the midst of watching an NHL playoff game.

Users have also taken to the official Apple Support Communities forums, where multiple threads (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) address the same issue. While some had the channel disappear from their Apple TV, others say it never showed up in the first place.

Various steps taken to fix the issue, including restarting or resetting the Apple TV, apparently do not work. The problems are said to apply to both second- and third-generation Apple TV units.

One person posting on the forums under the username “Choppa104” said they spoke with an Apple technician for over an hour, only to then speak to a manager who allegedly said the disappearance for some users is a technical issue that will be fixed.

“NBC Sports was released, we all rushed to activate, and we crashed things,” they wrote. “So now they are doing a structured roll out where customers will get it at random times in order to prevent another crash.”

NBC and its family of networks, including the NBC Sports Network, are the exclusive home of both the NHL and the Triple Crown.

NBC is also the home of NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series. And when the National Football League is in season, the network is also home to the weekly Sunday Night Football matchup.