Channels & viewing

[JonS1]

Have a paid subscription to Acorn through Roku.  On some shows, not all, commercials are being shown.  In one shows case the commercials did not start showing until season 4, episode 1.

The commercials are very loud and range anywhere from 4 - 9 being shown in a row.  There is more commercial time than episode viewing time.

Contacting Roku support has been a waste of time as it has been 3 months with very little communication - the last being on June 28th when they said the issue had been forwarded to the billing team and would follow up once they had feedback from billing.

Without doubt the worst technical support I have ever encountered.

If they can't get this straightened out the resolution will have to be moving to a different streaming service (Amazon, Tivo, etc.).

[makaiguy]

Roku just provides the platform on which the channel apps for Roku runs.   The channel owner, Acorn in this case, provides and maintains the Roku-compatible version of its own channel app.  Your complaint should be directed to Acorn.  Roku is no more responsible for the content on Acorn than your TV is.

Having said this, we subscribe to Acorn here and have never seen this behavior.  I was not aware that Acorn even had ads they could show you.

A couple of things to try:

Reinstall the channel.  When problems are confined to a particular channel, it may be that the channel did not install correctly, has received a faulty update, or has subsequently gotten corrupted. A reinstall of the channel to get its latest version may fix the problem, so give it a try. Remove/reinstall procedure:

1. Highlight channel on home screen.
2. Press * key on the Roku remote and choose Remove channel option.
   [Note: Iif this channel is one for which you have a paid subscription through Roku, there will be a "Manage subscription" option instead.  Click this and cancel your subscription. (It will continue to run for the rest of the prepaid subscription period, but will not auto-renew at that point.  You can resubscribe then if you like.) Now the "Remove channel" option will be shown.]
3. IMPORTANT- DON'T SKIP:
   Restart the Roku to clear its memory via Settings > System > System restart. (On a Roku TV, this is Settings > System > Power > System restart.)
4. Reinstall the channel. Note it will be added to the END of the channel grid.
5. If channel requires a login, you may need to log in anew.

If the problem persists at this point, it typically means the current version of the channel app has a problem that must be addressed by the channel itself as they are the ones that create the Roku-compatible version of their app and provide it to Roku.

Log out of the channel then log back in.  For Acorn, you can find this from the Acorn home screen via the * button on your Roku remote.

[JonS1]

Thanks makaiguy.  

Not sure if it makes a difference, Acorn TV is the "Acorn TV on the Roku Channel" and not the actual Acorn TV app.

[JonS1]

Raised a ticket with Acorn TV and the response they sent was:

Dear Valued Subscriber,

We apologize for your difficulties. As Roku is a third-party company, we do not have any control over any commercials that you may be seeing in between your shows. Please feel free to contact Roku support for further assistance toll-free any time at 816-272-8106.

Best wishes,

The Acorn TV Team

[renojim]

The solution may be to cancel your subscription through Roku and subscribe directly through Acorn and use the standalone Acorn TV channel/app.

[makaiguy]

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@JonS1 wrote:

Thanks makaiguy.  

Not sure if it makes a difference, Acorn TV is the "Acorn TV on the Roku Channel" and not the actual Acorn TV app.

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It might.  Our subscription is directly with Acorn, viewed on Acorn's Roku channel app, not through The Roku Channel.

So Roku, in addition to getting a cut of your subscription fees, is also inserting ads?  The only subscription I have thru Roku is Discovery+.  If they start pulling those shenanigans there, I'll cancel the subscription in a heartbeat and take out a sub directly with D+.