Channels & viewing

[OH_Streamer]

• When watching an episode of a show or a movie and "pause", an ad pops up blocking about 30% of the screen. I pause to see details in a scene, looking at the cast and other reasons. These ads are very annoying. I have 3 Roku devices and 1 Onn Roku TV. It does it on ALL devices. The software is V 12.5.0 build 4178-46 on my Roku Ultra 4660RW. Would you get rid of this or I'll start going into the secret menus and figure it out myself. 

[RokuJanadeeK]

Hi @OH_Streamer,

Thanks for bringing this to our attention.

We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience. Could you specify which channel (show/movie, content, or episodes) the issue persists? A photo would be really helpful, would you mind sending us one?

Your response is highly appreciated.

Regards,
Janadee

[OH_Streamer]

Pause Ads on Roku Channel

[RokuERey]

@OH_Streamer,

Thanks for getting back to us!

We appreciate you sharing the details requested. We'll take it from here, and I'll forward this over to the right team for further review.

Thanks,
Rey

[JBrk1]

I am not sure if it will work for you. For me when the ad pops up on the pause screen, I pushed the star button to open the options menu. Then I press the back arrow. That takes me back to the paused screen with the ad removed. Hope that helps.

~Josh

[pdxster]

Yeah I really hate that too! I find that hitting the star button twice also works for getting rid of it. Not sure who thought it was a great idea to add a huge advertisement blocking the screen when we pause the picture but they should be horsewhipped and shown the exit door.

[djmabf]

It's a free channel so we watch ads. Understood. No problem. But Roku, please get rid of this irritating screen blocker.

[veccio]

C’mon be real. You know exactly what this is. I’m sure the app builders are not exactly happy Roku Is overlaying ads on once pristine space. It’s stuff like this that pushes the good 10+ year customers like me to FOSS solutions like Kodi. In those scenarios companies risk consumers learning about alternative media sources.

The whole win-win appeal of streaming was findings a good spot where consumers would be willing to pay for entertainment without undue burden. The ens******ication cycle of Roku makes it so that once again, riding the high seas is a sensible option.

[Pap499]

This was obviously not corrected. We have been using Roku for over one year and suddenly ads are covering up the screen when you press pause. This is extremely annoying because we use this feature to read credits or check something in an image. There is an onscreen note that says change ads on pause in settings, but there is no such feature in settings. How do I shut this off!!!?

[HelpApp]

This just happened to my tv screen today Mar 14, 2025 for the first time. The entire center 80% of the screen on SlingTV went darker and then an ad when I paused to read a tweet displayed on the screen, .  This never happened before today on Sling. The darker screen also happens on Netflix when I pause to view a detail on the screen (unless viewing on iPad). If the screen didn’t darken I’d at least be able to see what I wanted to see before the Ad. This is super annoying. The TV is a TCL Roku enabled about one year old. What is the purpose of darkening the screen? Maybe it’s to avoid having screenshots taken? 
I see other complaints from over a year ago, so it’s obvious this will continue and get worse since other complaints didn’t mention the dark screen and the ad was only 30%. There are already plenty of ads on Sling which is a pay service. Adding them also into a paused moment is unacceptable IMHO. 
Who is doing this? The darkening of the screen plus now also then an Ad?  Is it ROKU?