Channels & viewing

[Trevor_Bartram]

I changed from ESPNwatch to ESPN Plus recently because the ESPNwatch content on my Roku 3s via Charter Spectrum (internet only) had dwindled, with frequent "Media Not Allowed" messages when trying to access content.

Now the same thing is happening with ESPN Plus. I emailed ESPN support but have received no reply. I phoned Charter, the tech suspected the fact that I had entered Charter Spectrum in the Provider box was confusing the system, so I changed to the default but I'm still getting the "Media Not Allowed" message.

I have questions:

1. Has anyone else encountered this problem with ESPN Plus and have a solution?
2. Does it take a while for Roku or ESPN to recognize changes made, should I wait a day and retry?
3. Is this a Charter, ESPN or Roku 3 problem?

Thanks, Trevor.

[RokuDanny-R]

Hi,

Thanks for letting us know about the issue that you are experiencing.

Try removing the channel from the Roku home screen by navigating to the channel tile, pressing the * key on your remote and choosing 'Remove channel'. Then restart your device from Settings>System>System restart. Once your player starts up again, add the channel back once more. 

If the issue remains unresolved, I'd recommend reaching out to ESPN directly to report the issue and request additional support. Many channels on the Roku platform is developed and maintained by the channel provider directly, and they'll be able to best assist. 

You can reach them here.

Thanks,
Danny

[SASA]

When trying to use the ESPN APP under FEATURED it tells me "Media Not Allowed Access to this is not included in your provider subscription." This has just happened in the last few days. I have always been able to access any of these games. @ links to members

[post merged with already existing thread]

[Trevor_Bartram]

Hi Danny,

Thanks for the suggestions, I tried them, they did not work and still no email reply from ESPN. The ESPN Plus registration process requires knowledge of the Provider (Charter Spectrum) when logging into the ESPN account (whether it is entered directly or not). I believe I've exhausted all options at my end, only ESPN can change fix this. I'm starting to believe that ESPN Plus access is not universal, it's tailored to each provider and that is why I'm being denied access. If anyone else knows this to be true please reply.

I've been watching the ATP tennis matches from London and got to the final and was denied access, bummer. I'll see if the final is available on YouTube!

Trevor.

[Trevor_Bartram]

Do you have a cable TV subscription to ESPN? If you do Media Not Allowed should not happen unless, the agreement between ESPN and your Providers has changed recently. If like me, you are Internet Only, Featured content used to be good but learned four months ago that many Providers have been scaling back. The best option was ESPN+ but as you see from my post, that is not working out so well either. The entanglements between Content Providers, ESPN and Internet Providers are really frustrating. 

In my case I'd recently been watching ATP tennis matches from London but was blocked from viewing the finals, bummer. I checked YouTube and only the highlights were available, double bummer!

HTH, Trevor.

[SASA]

We have roku and hulu and have the ESPN channels, but have been able to connect to other LIVE sports through the ESPN APP, particularly the games/matches, etc. that were not being televised on ESPN, ACC or SEC, now we can't get it. ESPN chat recommended that we not use ESPN+, but would need to pay for the APP. I don't understand when I have the APP on my phone and it works fine.

Too much technology.

Sasa

[Trevor_Bartram]

Trouble every day. Unfortunately I know nothing about Hulu. Strange that you have access thru your phone but not your streaming device. I believe you need help from someone in a similar situation, there must be thousands spread across the U.S., pity we can't organize ourselves better (ESPN community forum?) in these situations!

[ohioclone]

I realize this is a stale thread, but I had this issue today. I could watch ESPN Plus content but not anything that was either on regular ESPN channels or ESPN3. 

Fix for me was to logout of the TV provider login in the ESPN app on ROKU and reactivate/login for that login. After doing that I could stream normally. I wonder if it was related to adding/activating the ESPN Plus login recently. 

[Trevor_Bartram]

I'm glad you've resolved your issue. Here is what I've discovered over the last year about ESPN and Spectrum internet only customers:

1. There are plenty of on-demand matches at the start of a tournament including big name players. I've never tried to watch live or other matches, only after the fact on-demand, so YMMV.
2. On-demand matches are blocked with the 'Media Not Allowed' message towards the end of the tournament.
3. My solution is to watch end of tournament matches summarized on YouTube. Not ideal but workable.
4. Subscribing to ESPN Plus does not alter the situation but does give access to lesser known player's matches. However, I'm not interested in those matches so I unsubscribed to ESPN+.
5. ESPN Plus customer service sent me several email replies but none with a detailed explanation like above.

[SRome]

I have an ESPN subscription with Spectrum and an ESPN Plus subscription. With AppleTV the ESPN app works great. I can watch ESPN live and featured shows like First Take after it has aired. I can also watch ESPN Plus content.  

However, when I try to watch the ESPN app on Roku I get the 'media not allowed' error a lot. I believe the problem is Roku. Usually I’ll have to watch ESPN through the Spectrum App on Roku because the ESPN app does not work on Roku consistently.  For live ESPN the spectrum app is fine, but for watching First Take and featured shows on the ESPN app on Roku no luck.  I plan to replace my Roku TV with an AppleTV because I watch the ESPN app a lot and for some reason it does not work reliably on Roku.