11/21/18 UA179 EWR-HKG pmCO 772 No
However, for the attitude of the crew about it, they should receive a big thumbs up. My wife asked a FA to ask the captain. There was a discussion in the cockpit if the plane had Channel 9. One pilot said that the plane had it so they would put Channel 9 on. However, we were not able to find "From the Flight Deck" on the screen. A few hours later when my wife was in the galley, that FA asked if she had been able to listen to it. When she answered that she had not been able to find it, the international purser who had taken care of her for the dinner service went to investigate. He came back with the news that it was not available on that plane.
12/3/18 UA896 HKG-ORD pmUA 772 Yes
My wife asked two pilots that were outside the cockpit if Channel 9 would be on. One of them asked for my wife's seat number so he could let her know. After 20 minutes, he came to tell her that it was broken and that a mechanic was trying to fix it but the chances that Channel 9 would be on was very low. However, the mechanic managed to fix it and it was on (more garbled leaving HKG but very clear when approaching ORD).
On that plane, the captain announced that there were 4 pilots with a total of 149 years of experience. The pilot who talked to my wife about Channel 9 had told her before that that he had 40 years experience, first in the military, then on TWA. They were chatting about that because when my wife asked about Channel 9 they thought that she was a pilot. No, she's only a passenger that has been flying international long hauls since 1960 and still likes to be in a plane.
So, we are keeping the 50% rate of success on our international long hauls. For our domestic flights, the planes from ORD don't have it.
I can answer my own question from Nov. 17: we boarded the pmCO 772 from the second door.