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LindaD1953's avatar
LindaD1953
Binge Watcher
2 months ago

Re: [Waiting on Partner] Background play no longer showing on YouTube TV

Hi, I use Roku to access my YouTube tv  today the background play stopped working on me one of my TVs. It’s still working on the other.

I have tried unplugging Roku device, router & tv.
I have updated Roku,b& you tube tv app.
I have removed YouTube tv app & reinstalled it.
I have cleared cache on Roku.

Nothing has fixed it.
At one point today, I was watching one channel, but the closed captioning was showing what the golf channel was saying. I turned it off & back on & it went away.

But after that, the background play, which shows the channel being watched, while I open the guide, and allows me to go back to it, disappeared. Now I just have a black background.

Please help me fix this. I am 72 years old, and cannot buy a new Roku app. I have the express version now. 

Thank you.

34 Replies

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  • Polk69's avatar
    Polk69
    Channel Surfer
    31 days ago

    I have two recently purchased Roku BRAND televisions.  Not other brand televisions with the Roku app preinstalled on them.  Genuine Roku.  Really, really like them.  One is a 32" and the other is a 55".  

    I use YouTube TV as my primary streaming provider.  Note that this issue only happens with my 32", not my 55".  So here's the setup.  I'm watching a channel and decide to browse through other live options or recorded ones. So using my Roku remote, I press on the "arrow pointing left" button on the top left of the remote.  In the past, the television would keep the audio of the channel I had been watching while I browse for options.  But as of a couple of months ago, the audio goes away completely and I have silence until I choose a channel option and everything is right again with the world! 

    I checked all settings and couldn't find anything that may help me with this so I used the nuclear option and performed a "factory reset" of the television to out of the box state.  Set up everything and when I first tried it, IT WORKED!  It now held the audio of the prior channel while I was browsing! It's fixed!  Well that joy was short lived as it only worked one time.  The next time I tried it, it was back to its old tricks of silence while searching.   Both of my Roku TVs are up to date with software.  

    While I certainly can live with it, I'd sure like it to go back to keeping audio of prior channel on when browsing.  Any ideas?  I'm kind of stumped as to why there would be any difference between my 32" and my 55"  I looked for known issues and couldn't find anything.  Any ideas?  Thanks in advance!  

    • RokuEmmanuel-D's avatar
      RokuEmmanuel-D
      Community Moderator
      31 days ago

      Hey! Polk69​ 

      You mentioned that you're experiencing audio issues when browsing other channels on YouTube TV. 

      Factory reset was a nice workaround as it worked for a while, however, have you also tried doing the steps below and see if that'll permanently fix the problem?

      1. Remove the channel: Highlight the channel tile on your home screen and press Star to open the Options menu. Select Remove channel and confirm.
      2. Restart your Roku device: Go to Settings > System > Power > System restart > Restart Now.
      3. Reinstall the channel: After your Roku device restarts, visit the Roku Streaming Store and add the channel again.


      Let us know if that works for you!

      Roku Community Team

      • Powder28's avatar
        Powder28
        Channel Surfer
        28 days ago

        I am having the same issue. My upstairs TV shows in the background my downstairs TV does not. It’s very frustrating. I have tried everything. Uninstalling the apps reinstalling the apps unplugging looking at the settings and it’s still doing the same thing.

    • LindaD1953's avatar
      LindaD1953
      Binge Watcher
      29 days ago

      Mine is the same problem. It’s because background play stopped working. We don’t have the show we are watching still playing in the background.

      It sucks that you bought a Roku tv because you can’t even replace Roku now.

    • DanaS4450's avatar
      DanaS4450
      Newbie
      25 days ago

      This is the exact same thing that is still happening with my two Roku tv's.  I also have a 55" and a 32" my 55" is working great no interruptions I still get the the background play, but not with my 32" and I have read all the steps suggested to take and nothing is working.

      • RokuEmmanuel-D's avatar
        RokuEmmanuel-D
        Community Moderator
        25 days ago

        I understand this is also happening to you, DanaS4450​!

        To help us investigate further, could you please share the requested info mentioned above in this thread?

        We'll wait for your response!

        Roku Community Team

  • RokuRiamie-D's avatar
    RokuRiamie-D
    Community Moderator
    2 months ago

    Hi LindaD1953​

    We appreciate the troubleshooting steps you took to fix your issue with YouTube TV and would like to take a closer look at it.

    Could you please send us a short video showing the issue occurring?

    We will wait for your reply.

    Roku Community Team

    • JW02's avatar
      JW02
      Reel Rookie
      31 days ago

      I’m having the same issue 

      • RokuEmmanuel-D's avatar
        RokuEmmanuel-D
        Community Moderator
        30 days ago

        Hey! JW02​ 

        You seem to have an issue with YouTube TV, too, and we'd like to know more about it. 

        If possible, can you share a video of it while happening so we can take a look? Also, are there any recent updates before this happened? Sharing the latest software version would help. (You can find this in Settings > System > About.)

        Hope to hear from you soon!

        Roku Community Team

  • chahalmehak's avatar
    chahalmehak
    Newbie
    2 months ago

    Hi there,

    Thanks for sharing all the steps you’ve already tried—that rules out a lot. Since background play worked before and suddenly stopped, it’s most likely tied to either a recent Roku OS or YouTube TV app update rather than your device being broken.

    A few things you can still try:

    • Check for updates again (Settings > System > System update > Check now), since Roku sometimes pushes quick patches.
    • Go to Settings > System > Power > System restart (instead of just unplugging). This clears things more cleanly.
    • In YouTube TV, open the Settings inside the app and check if there are any playback/background options that may have reset after the glitch.
    • If you have another Roku (like you mentioned), compare the software version on both devices (Settings > System > About) to see if the one that lost background play is on a slightly different version.

    Since you also saw captions showing from the wrong channel earlier, that suggests a temporary app bug rather than hardware failure. If the above doesn’t fix it, it may resolve with the next update from Roku or YouTube TV.

    For now, if background play is important, you can still use your other Roku where it’s working normally.

    You definitely don’t need to buy a new Roku—this looks like a software issue, not your hardware.

    • LindaD1953's avatar
      LindaD1953
      Binge Watcher
      29 days ago

      This is not an issue a video will show happening.

      here are two screenshots. This shows what happens when you are watching a show, but want to check the guide also.

      the top screenshot shows the affected app. You will notice at the top of the screen it shows Library, Home, Live. If it was working properly it would show the name of the show I was watching above those.

      you can also see there is nothing playing in the background, there’s just a black screen. 
      if I want to go back to my show, I’d have to scroll through the guide, or find it on the mini screens.

      The bottom screen shows my living room tv. You can see Library, How me, Live. But above that you can the name of the show I’m watching, House Hunters, and you can see it playing in background. To go right back to it, I just click at the top of the screen where it shows House Hunters.

      This is clearly a problem with Roku Express not being able to render background play.

      I think, under the circumstances, the minimum you could do is provide an upgraded Roku device for me to replace the Express with and then I can determine if my theory is correct, and report it to you