Forum Discussion

Janner103's avatar
Janner103
Channel Surfer
6 months ago

Roku TV turning off the channel that's on and putting Cars In Roku City Screensaver on instead

My one month old Select Series Roku 43" 4k TV updated itself on 1/8/25.  Sleep timer is and has always been off.  Since the next day, 1/9/25, my TV has started turning off the channel I was watching (local CBS channel via antenna) after about 5 hours and instead displays the Roku described "everyone's favorite screensaver - Cars in Roku City". 

Well, it's not my favorite screensaver and I don't appreciate my new TV deciding I've been watching the same channel for too long and turning it off and putting on that stupid screensaver instead.  I do some graphic design and I realize that someone put an awful lot of time - and charged Roku some good money - for creating that, but Roku trying to make that expenditure pay off should be Roku's problem, not mine.

I see nothing in settings to put a stop to it, so it must be something that was added to the recent update.

This is worse than the obnoxious "Are You Still Watching?" boxes that come up on various streaming channels - at least on those, all you have to do is click "yes" and the channel will restart automatically. 

This Roku version of "Still Watching" completely shuts off the channel I was watching, while a little ad to watch some channel on the Roku app rides along with the car at the bottom of the screensaver.  If I want my channel back, I have to hit the home button, then scroll over to "Antenna" then scroll back to the channel  I was watching and press enter.  Meaning I miss 1-2 minutes of the broadcast.  And yes, the content I missed matters, in addition to the inconvenience of it all.

You need to either remove this from the update with a new update or at least give us an option in the settings to program how long we want to be able to watch the same channel.  If I want to watch the same **bleep** channel for 12 hours straight, that's my perogative.  

Fix this!

 

10 Replies

  • renojim's avatar
    renojim
    Community Streaming Expert
    6 months ago

    Do you have the "Bandwidth saver" enabled under Settings->Network?  You wouldn't think it would affect watching something via an antenna, but I wouldn't put it past Roku.

    • Janner103's avatar
      Janner103
      Channel Surfer
      6 months ago

      Hey RenoJim!  Thanks for the suggestion!  Yes, "Bandwidth Saver" was set to "on", I just set it to "off".  It would be crazy if it was affecting antenna TV but as you said, we can't put it past Roku to have it programmed that way, LOL!

      I'll post back in a day or two to let you know if this solved the problem.  Thanks again for your help!

      😊

  • sarjos3's avatar
    sarjos3
    Reel Rookie
    6 months ago

    Try going to settings and hit update.  After that in settings hit restart it.  This always worked for mine.  Anytime it does this, you'll have to do this.

    • sarjos3's avatar
      sarjos3
      Reel Rookie
      6 months ago

      Also, I've had the boxes forever with no problem. My son bought me a TCL Roku tv and I had a lot of problems with this until I found out what to do. But, it is a big hassel. So, I'll stick to the boxes or stick.

    • Care4all's avatar
      Care4all
      Reel Rookie
      6 months ago

      Just curious if you reset the TV. My Roku TV has a tiny reset button you have to use a paperclip type thing to push it. I didn't have the same issue but it solved other update problems.

    • Janner103's avatar
      Janner103
      Channel Surfer
      6 months ago

      For me this screensaver problem started right after my Roku TV had updated itself on 1/8/25.  I would assume the update itself would reset the TV and I did not and would not reset it myself unless I couldn't watch or get channels I'd had before.

      • Janner103's avatar
        Janner103
        Channel Surfer
        6 months ago

        While roaming around in "Settings", I did find something called "Power" - it's under Settings > System > Power.  There are two settings there and both were checked.  I left the first option checked to prevent any screen damage on my TV.  I unchecked the second option to see if it makes any difference.  But I honestly don't know if this will have any effect on it booting us out of our channel with the "Cars" screensaver showing up.

        The first setting is "Reduce power after 15 minutes" - the explanation says "Allows the TV to reduce power when there is no signal and no interaction after 15 minutes."

        I think this first setting kicks in if you just have your home screen on and haven't hit any keys on your remote to start watching any apps.  I am guessing that "reduce power" means that it dims or turns off the home screen until you hit any key on the remote.  Like going into sleep mode on a desktop or laptop.  Maybe you could set a "screensaver" to confirm that it's kicked into "reduced power" mode.  But you'd have to worry about screen damage either way, I'd think, so I am leaving this first option checked.

        The second setting is "Turn off after 4 hours" - the explanation says "Automatically turns the TV off after 4 hours of no interaction - this does not apply when you're watching TV or videos.  When "Fast TV Start" is enabled, this setting is overridden and more power will be used."

        This second option is very confusing - it says it won't turn off the TV if you are watching something, but it also says it will turn the TV off after 4 hours if there's been "no interaction".  I am guessing no interaction means you haven't hit any key on the remote for 4 hours.  So, as I understand it - and I could be wrong -  basically, it will turn the TV off, if you haven't hit a key on the remote, even if you are watching something.

        It does say that "Fast TV Start will override the "Turn off after 4 hours", so I checked to see what that is.

        The explanation for "Fast TV Start" says it "allows you to wake up your TV with:

        - music or video casting

        - Hands free voice ("Hey Roku")

        - The Roku Mobile App

        - Voice Assistants

        Fast TV Start will use more power than the default settings."

        IMO, none of that seems to be very fast, except for maybe yelling at your remote.  I don't know if you can say "Hey Roku" turn the TV back on and go back to the channel I was just watching, where it left off" and if it is "smart" enough to do that.

        But to do casting or use the mobile app, you'd have to get your phone out and run through a lot more steps to get back to where you were before.  It would be easier to just turn your TV back on or just go back to the channel that it had kicked you out of.  And Roku doesn't have a built in voice assistant, like Siri, on the actual TV,  so I don't even understand why that option is there.

        I don't know if any of this will work.  Seems like the only real solution is to hit some key on your remote every few hours.  I don't know if adjusting the volume a step or two will work, but maybe pausing the feed for a few seconds and start it back up will. 

        I wish us all good luck!