Just playing with it a bit, the debug number seems to be averaged over a longer period of time while the status.json is closer to instant, so the status one swings around more on channels encoded using variable bitrate.

We would like to get some diagnostic data to see what is happening:

In a web browser go to http://hdhomerun.local
NOTE: That address will go do the first HDHomeRun device found on your network. If you have more than one HDHomeRun device, use the "device ID" printed on the bottom of the unit ...

Updated.

There isn't a way to change the player. The best option is to open http://hdhomerun.local/lineup.m3u in the player, then turn on the Playlist (View > Playlist) and just double click on the channel in that list to switch to it.

The logs from the DVR indicate that it does not have a RecordPath. The DVR has not restarted during the log window we have available so we can't see why that is. Typically it means that the hdhomerun.conf file is not present, the DVR was started without specifying the config file, or the location ...

The DVR's behavior has not changed. It requires regular but not constant internet access to make new recordings, while playing existing recordings works offline.

Updated.

Updated as much as possible. Gracenote doesn't have listings for America's Voice Español (why does this exist anyway?), Black Vision TV, or Hasbro Legends, although we're told that Hasbro is in the works.

Are you running stock firmware on the main router or third-party firmware like DD-WRT?

What router?

When you had 5.1 going right after the scan finished, there was severe packet loss, indicating either network problems or that the receiving end was not processing the incoming data fast enough. I assume that was the Plex server. How is it connected to the network?

We can check the diagnostic logs from the HDHomeRun to see if the data is at least reaching the Plex server OK. Anything after that you'd have to work with Plex for.

In a web browser go to http://hdhomerun.local
NOTE: That address will go do the first HDHomeRun device found on your network. If you ...

VLC doesn't support the audio format due to a lot of open-source software drama, but at least on Windows, you can download clsid2's build of MPC-HC and that will work for audio and video on ATSC 3.0 channels.

When a recording is scheduled to start, the DVR will check to see if that episode exists on the DVR already, and if not, it will attempt to record it. If it succeeds, then at the next scheduled recording it will see that recording on the DVR and not record it. If it fails (no signal, no tuners ...

Have you tried fiddling with the local network permission some more? In my experience, that control has never worked 100% reliably at any point since Apple introduced it.