Q. I can not get the new Chicago Cubs channel on DIRECTV on channel 664! Can you please help me. It’s not in my guide and I call DIRECTV’s customer service and they have no clue, of course. — Ben, Racine, Wisconsin.
The Marquee Sports Channel, the new TV home of the Chicago Cubs, debuted last Saturday with its first live game with the Cubs playing the Oakland Athletics in spring training action.
Since the launch, many DIRECTV subscribers have posted angry messages on social media sites saying they can’t watch the channel although the satcaster announced it would carry it.
The DIRECTV subscribers say the Marquee Sports Network is not listed in their guides so they can not automatically tune to it by scrolling. And when they type in channel 664, they get a ‘721 error’ message.
“@WatchMarquee @DIRECTV I am so sick of this message. Customer service from India has no clue about this or any updates. We are 3 full days late with no communication of a resolution. Just want our @Cubs . We have been paying for it, just not getting it,” wrote @mredpsych on Twitter yesterday.
“@WatchMarquee @DIRECTVI’m gonna need one or both of you to figure out so that I can watch my cubs that I’m already paying for….. now,” wrote @rcaldy1908.
Other subscribers say the channel is in the guide, but they still can’t watch it although DIRECTV’s customer service team said they could.
There are two likely causes for this confusion.
One, despite what the satcaster’s customer service unit may have said, the Marquee Sports Network is a regional sports channel. That means you can only watch the Cubs games if you live in the Cubs market which consists of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and parts of Wisconsin.
You can find out if you are in the Cubs market by using the channel’s provider finder here.
Second, DIRECTV has experienced similar issues in the past when it first adds a new channel. Although the channel has been added, subscribers don’t see it listed in the guide because their receivers haven’t been updated with the new channel information.
So, if you are having a problem finding Marquee in your guide, re-set your receiver. If that still doesn’t work, call DIRECTV and ask it to refresh your receiver. Some subscribers are reporting on social media today that re-setting and/or refreshing will add Marquee to the guide.
Ben, hope that helps. Happy viewing!
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If its not in your guide you may have a custom guide list set up. The easiest way to add it to the guide is to tune to the channel, press INFO, scroll over to Favorites, then click on Add. I had to do this.
I have direct and get Cubs channel. But Ido have the regional sports channels. I live in SW lower MI across the lake from Chicago
Hi Mike – I’m in SW MI as well – have DTV and the RSN. Still not getting 664. Did you have to contact DTV or do any reseeting, etc. with your receivers? I have tried all of the above and still no luck and DTV reps have proven “unhelpful.”
I am a premium DirecTV subscriber and it has been giving me the 721 error since launch. i get all of the sports networks in the 600 channel range. I called DirecTV customer service on Saturday at launch and they said it was a system wide issue.. DirecTV has been a joke ever since AT&T bought them.
I live in Indiana and have reset many times. Still getting error 721.
I still am getting error 721 on DTV – this is so old – Even if the games have bee halted I still would like to watch the channel that says should be there. Somebody better get their act together – Either MSN or DTV. Since the start of this channel until 3/30/20 this better get fixed!