Channels & viewing

Are your Roku channels not working? Find troubleshooting tips for adding/removing channels, logging in, authentication, activation, playback issues, and more.
cancel
Showing results for 
Show  only  | Search instead for 
Did you mean: 
RokhunaMahtata
Reel Rookie

My Roku is adding channels automatically, how can I stop it?

This has been happening for not quite a month now. I have come home from work to find (the first time) about 120 new channels added to my Roku TV (TCL 49 Class LED 5 Series 2160p Smart 4K UHD TV with HDR Roku TV, Model: 49S5)!? I went through the painstaking process of deleting each all but 15 original channels one at a time because Roku makes this user mass deletion experience horrible to manage via the phone app, web, and remote.

 

The second time found that only 30 or so channels were added. I reviewed my Roku online account to make sure everything was again locked down and I changed my password just to be sure. Then, I deleted the extra 15.

 

This evening I came home to find that since this morning’s brief TV watching for about an hour, and then stepping out running errands for 75% of this Sunday, I have 73 additional channels added!? Twice I have contacted Roku support about this matter within the past 2 weeks have receive no support or replies other than the automatic ‘received your message’ verification. So, I am reaching out to the Roku user community to see if anyone else has solution options to permanently deal with this out of the blue crazy channel adding situation(s). I have owned gen 1 through too many Rokus versions over its consumer existence, and made the plunge to support Roku by grabbing up one of their 4K TVs last holiday season, as an extra house TV. So, I am not new to Roku usage, settings, etc. Now, I am regretting my recent investment if I have to delete 120+ channels and using their inefficient one by one deletion process. Also, I reset my router each time, I am the only person on my account, only Black Screensaver is my out of the ordinary apps/channels. Hence, no non-Roku official or third-party apps and channels, I am running SW ver. 9.1.0 and I have used and had the same apps channels on my almost year-old TV for a year now, without issue(s). What gives all of a sudden? 

27 REPLIES 27
Obscure541
Streaming Star

Re: My Roku is adding channels automatically, how can I stop it?

I just went through this exact same thing, only 922 channels were added on mine, too many to delete. I came in here looking for my post, can't find it wondering if Tanner the community manager removed it.

Anyhow at this point the best way to help yourself is to do a reset on your device,( this is what I needed to do) make sure when your doing the new set up you don't check ANY boxes, Roku already knows which channels you subscribe to they're all linked to your account already, just hit continue, and make sure when you do the search for Roku your using Google, I was using Bing and I think I may have been to a bogus site I still don't know if this was the case, but Tanner never came up with a reason for this happening just said he hadn't heard of this issue before. I told him he would be hearing of this again.

I'm not a regular user of community boards, and I am not a technician, I am also someone who owns smart tv' s, and had the exact same experience you are now describing( but don't use the smart tv function don't like it) I like you came here for help because Roku no longer offers customer service. I'm surprised Tanner hasn't answered your post? I am  electronically literate as I own about 5 or 6 Roku's from Roku2, Roku 3, and the new Premier Roku because my oldest Roku was being made obsolete by Roku. I also own many electronics which I am responsible for maintaining.

Anyhow Tanner as I mentioned before never came up with a valid reason for this happening, his advice to me was to reset my device, I did this because it was impossible to delete 922 channels. What I found was in doing so it gave me a much more simple form of doing the set up. I was able to do it all from my tablet, but as I mentioned using google search was key, also make sure you set up your preference for screen saver, BUT what you may or may not notice under screen saver's there are now so many you can't get to bottom of them, and they are all 'paid for' screen saver's except the few offered by Roku, stick with those.

I was coming back to ask Tanner about all  these new 'paid for' screen saver's. I suspect there is something bogus about these, or the way they mysteriously just added right before my eyes, as I was setting up my screen saver option to those only offered by Roku. Also before I did the reset when I tired to buy one of these 'paid for' screen saver's they couldn't install kept getting an error message that it wouldn't install.

Best wishes, I don't understand why Tanner the community board manager isn't replying to your post. I posted the exact same thing two day's ago. Apparently he has removed my post 😕  I can't find it.

0 Kudos
andyross
Roku Guru

Re: My Roku is adding channels automatically, how can I stop it?

NEVER use ANY search engine!!!! Type in the FULL address all the time. IGNORE what ANY search engine gives you!!

Obscure541
Streaming Star

Re: My Roku is adding channels automatically, how can I stop it?

you're using a search engine even when you type in a url. We need search engines. When doing a set up Roku gives you go to Roku.com/activate it's not a url. What do you think is taking you to a url address? a search engine!

0 Kudos
andyross
Roku Guru

Re: My Roku is adding channels automatically, how can I stop it?

Don't confuse DNS with a search engine. DNS just takes what you FULLY type in and finds the IP address for it. Sadly, some ISP's and browsers still do DNS redirection to a search engine if an address is not found instead of just giving a 404 error.

Today, most browser's address bar doubles as a search bar. Some have options to disable Internet searching when typing, limiting it to only your bookmarks/favorites, and history. Firefox (full computer browser) has an option for a separate search bar. For Chrome/new Edge, there is an extension called SearchBar that offers an icon in the status bar where you can pop up a search box.

 

boogernose
Roku Guru

Re: My Roku is adding channels automatically, how can I stop it?

Yes DNS is not the same as a Search Engine.

More secure Search Engines are like Duck Duck Go and such.

Firefox will warn you if you are going to a suspected bogus site.

Everyone should ne using HTTPS everywhere addon.

And if your really paranoid disable Javascript.

@Obscure541 

This is an older string not many have reported such a problem.

It is possible your Roku account was hacked.

I would reset my password. USE FIREFOX.

This is the simplest way to try and be secure.

and Im sorry you dont know what youre talking about.

 

---A problem clearly stated is a problem half solved---.
Obscure541
Streaming Star

Re: My Roku is adding channels automatically, how can I stop it?

Thanks for putting me in my place, you're right while I might be electronically literate software is not my strong point. I only came here because Roku no longer offers customer service. But no my acct. has not been hacked. It would've helped had I checked the date on this thread, my bad.

boogernose
Roku Guru

Re: My Roku is adding channels automatically, how can I stop it?

I can appreciate your being upset.

Still I wonder why it happened.

I still think you should change the password of your account

on the Roku site.

I hope it was just a fluke. Let us know....

---A problem clearly stated is a problem half solved---.
Obscure541
Streaming Star

Re: My Roku is adding channels automatically, how can I stop it?

Thank You for even bothering to answer me, and I appreciate the information given here by you and andyross I did change my pin before I did the reset, I still feel it is safe to say there has been no foul activity on my acct.

you and andyross, got through to me what my sister who's in software could not, so I hope you feel good about that. I do appreciate your weighing in to set me straight, I understand so much more, thank you ever so much.

No one has been able to find a reason why this happened but I see even though it hasn't happened often I wasn't the only one to have this experience. I still wonder if it is connected to the vendor who is selling 990 screensavers. I do accept now with my new understanding that there was no nefarious activity. 

But let  me stop here, thanks again

 

0 Kudos
Obscure541
Streaming Star

Re: My Roku is adding channels automatically, how can I stop it?

sorry forgot to add, I'm going to Mozzella Firefox now to find a download 🙂

0 Kudos