DirecTV - Switching Channels - Input & Automation

First of all try the command without quotes, like:

living_room_tv_channel: /bin/echo {{ states.input_text.living_room_tv_channel.state }} > ~/jz.txt
or
living_room_tv_channel: /bin/echo {{ channel }} > ~/jz.txt

If it doesn´t work try one of these:

living_room_tv_channel: '/bin/echo "{{ states.input_text.living_room_tv_channel.state }}" > ~/jz.txt'
or
living_room_tv_channel: '/bin/echo "{{ channel }}" > ~/jz.txt'

And also, see this post: