Different guy here but the same problem. I have been using Roku on my Firestick for over a year but in the last 2 weeks, it won't allow my shows to start. The Roku page comes up with my name, then I select a show and it comes up to its homepage but when I click to start or resume, it says "Playback unavailable at this time, try back in a few minutes" or "Playback not allowed". I have verified my internet connections and bandwidth, I have restarted my Firestick, I have logged out of Roku and logged back in but I still have the same problem.

Hi Community users, Thank you for reporting this issue to the Roku Community! We believe this issue has been resolved for the majority of users, not all of them; thus, in the interest of maintaining order, we will close this discussion now. If you are still experiencing this issue, go ahead and start a new thread and shoot me a PM. This discussion will be closed, and this post will be marked as solved. We appreciate your patience, and we also thank everyone who reported this. Happy Streaming! All the best,Chel

The Roku Channel on Firestick won’t play any shows

32 Replies

Replies have been turned off for this discussion

Fdestadio57
Newbie
3 years ago
Just learned about the Roku channel a couple weeks ago and installed it on my fire TV stick. Worked perfect until today now nothing plays I get a playback error try again later. I checked for updates. I've uninstalled and reinstalled the app still nothing works live TV or any other shows. Kind of disappointed at this point I had hoped for it
Will43
Newbie
3 years ago
Fire tv no longer plays shows on roku channel so I pulled out my old firestick same problem. Roku channel greeting has my name home page is shown can access guide but when I select a channel it buffers and then gives error message. All three of my roku devices are working. Have Uninstaller and reinstalled what is the solution?
- RokuAnjelie
  Community Moderator
  3 years ago
  Hi Will43,
  
  A warm welcome here in the Roku community!
  
  We completely understand what you're experiencing right now. Can you please give us more details regarding your issue so we can further assist you?
  
  Could you please specify the error code?
  
  What troubleshooting steps have you done so far?
  
  Steps to reproduce the issue you are seeing?
  
  Once we have this information, we can do further investigation. We can look forward to your response.
  
  Thanks,
  
  Anjelie
  - KDD5
    Newbie
    2 years ago
    There’s no error code. Just simply turns as if it’s trying to open and then says “can’t play this right now check back later”. But never plays
Manitou
Newbie
3 years ago
SOLUTION!!!!
I figured out why!
Roku does not like VPN. If you are using a VPN, Roku blocks out the channel.
Turn your VPN completely off and ROKU works on firestick!
RokuNimfa-C
Retired Moderator
3 years ago
Hi GregoryBoen,

Thanks for reaching out here in Roku Community.

We'd like to know more about the issue you are experiencing with the Roku channel on your Firestick. Does the issue only occur on The Roku Channel or all channels on your device? Have you tried to remove the channel and see if it helps? If you haven't tried it yet, you can remove The Roku Channel and re-install it.

Keep us posted on how it goes.

Regards,
Nimfa
- GregoryBoen
  Reel Rookie
  3 years ago
  Hi, it is just on the Roku channel that the shows are not working. I will try deleting the channel and reloading it.
  
  Thanks,
  Greg
  - RokuNimfa-C
    Retired Moderator
    3 years ago
    GregoryBoen
    
    Thanks for the response.
    
    We appreciate you doing that. Hope it helps. Keep us posted on how it goes and we're glad to follow up.
    
    Regards,
    Nimfa
- LennyC137
  Newbie
  2 years ago
  Is there any news on this issue? I’m new to the party it seems, but it worked great until yesterday. Now nothing will play. I receive a message saying:
  
  Playback Error
  Unfortunately, we were unable to play this content. Please try again later.
  
  All shows do this when I try them. I was going to uninstall/reinstall process, but it does not seem to help others.
  - RokuERey
    Retired Moderator
    2 years ago
    Hi LennyC137,
    
    Thanks for joining us here in the Roku Community!
    
    I appreciate you flagging us about this issue with The Roku Channel on Firestick.
    
    If you're still experiencing the issue, give it a try by accessing it with the use of a mobile hotspot or any alternative network to see if that makes a difference.
    
    Please keep us posted!
    
    Thanks,
    Rey
Charlie4495
Channel Surfer
3 years ago
My Roku app worked perfectly on my Firestick and just in the past two weeks it has stopped working. Like you said it allows me to log in. Shows what is available and on every selection the following "Playback unavailable at this time, try back in a few minutes" pops up.
I have uninstalled the app. Reinstalled it. Restarted my router and restarted my Firestick and disconnect everything from the mains supply. All my other apps are working, such as Tubi. The Roku channel start up each time as normal but "Playback unavailable at this time, try back in a few minutes" is all I get every time I make a selection.
- RokuTakashi
  Community Moderator
  3 years ago
  Hi Charlie4495,
  
  Greetings and welcome to the Roku Community!
  
  Thanks for reaching out and sharing this information with us. Rest assured that we'll provide support to address your concern. Would you mind us asking for an image with the playback message? This would help us better grasp the issue, and we can address it.
  
  We look forward to hearing back from you.
  
  All the best,
  Kash
  - Shirey
    Newbie
    3 years ago
    I have seen a lot of responses but nothing useful so far. I have the roku app on my firestick. I normally use it to watch several shows. The past few weeks it will not allow me to watch anything. It does not matter the title, movie, series, on demand, live tv, etc. It gives the error message "Playback Error Unfortunately, we were unable to play this content. Please try again later." I've tried later, I have uninstalled and reinstalled the app, I have reset my router, I have checked for updates, I have patiently waited. If it can't be fixed I would just like to know so I can delete it and tell friends to do the same. This is obviously an issue on Roku's end considering how widespread the problem is.
7521
Newbie
2 years ago
I had the same problem also, but once I turned my IPVanish off I was able to watch the Roku channel.
RokuEuniceL
Retired Moderator
3 years ago
Hi btsuper38,

Greetings from the Roku Community!

We're glad to assist you with your problem on a channel in Roku. We'd like to know more about it so we can assist you further. Please provide us some details:

What Roku device are you using right now? (e.g., Roku Express, Roku Streambar, Roku TV—specify TV)

Is the issue happening on all contents or channels, or is this isolated to one content or channel? (Specify)

Are you getting any error messages or error codes while trying to play content?

Have you tried updating the channel?

We'll be waiting for your response.

Kind regards,

Eunice
Annabananad
Newbie
2 years ago
While trying to figure out why my Roku Soundbar won't play anything on the Roku Channel I saw this thread and I remember that the TV I'm using is Insignia Fire TV. Maybe this is the problem. It appears no one has a resolution for this at this moment. I do want to add though that my issue is slightly different in presentation: when I click play the whole TV kind of blinks once as if it's going to start playing and then it does nothing absolutely nothing. I am beyond frustrated.
- RokuJechealR
  Retired Moderator
  2 years ago
  Hi Community users,
  
  Thank you for reporting this issue to the Roku Community!
  
  We believe this issue has been resolved for the majority of users, not all of them; thus, in the interest of maintaining order, we will close this discussion now.
  
  If you are still experiencing this issue, go ahead and start a new thread and shoot me a PM.
  
  This discussion will be closed, and this post will be marked as solved. We appreciate your patience, and we also thank everyone who reported this.
  
  Happy Streaming!
  
  All the best,
  Chel