I have read every single post here , even the repetitious ones and the ones from people that don't read any of them.
Let's summarize and cut to the chase.
FACTS:
1. The app only retains television provider information at best for a day and then you have to re-authenticate. We ALL know know there is a Time duration piece of code that is sent to the Roku device and retained by the CBS app . This was confirmed by Antoine_SoBeach. He affirms that this is probably a 5 min. fix and since I have also written code I would also concur that that is probably a fair assessment. Add in dragging your feet from high priced software code engineers, multiple coffee breaks and hiding in the broom closet to milk a small project for everything it's worth. This couldn't be more than a couple hours or a day fix at best. This may sound like a joke but things like this actually happened which is why so many things are high priced in the United States.
2. Many have confirmed that it's not just on the Roku ABC App that has the issues but on Apple TV and fire stick ABC App. Michelle3 posted that this also occurs on her Paramount Plus app.
3. This issue or the first post was in September of 2021. Apparently this issue was not an issue at some date prior to that. This issue has persisted for many months now (14 months as of my post here in November of 2022).
4. Both major companies Roku and CBS are pointing fingers back and forth at each other like children.
5. The CBS website sends code back to the Roku device specifically authenticating only for 24 hours with an expiration at that point.
6. This is reported to only happen with the CBS app and no other apps by many of the posters. Thus, this is most definitely a CBS problem and issue and the only way it is not directly their problem as if they Farm out to a third party the writing of the code of their apps. Even if they hire Roku or some other third party to write their code it is still ultimately in their purview and something they should send down the chain to fix.
7. For some reason for me this issue/ occurs instantly as soon as I log into the ABC app. I created a login to retain favorite shows and shows watched to be able to have that history. I have uninstalled and reinstalled the app and decided to not log in but the app somehow retains some kind of login history in Roku and automatically logs me in. Or possibly the TV provider information is retained on cbs's server along with my login. I'm not sure how they have written this code.
8. Most likely there are tens of thousands or maybe hundreds of thousands of people that have this issue. Some have probably read these threads and not posted a comment or a kudos while some have most likely went to other forums but in reality, most don't have the fortitude to search for an online forum, nor do they know where to search or the Search terms to use. Most don't want to take the time. But this is obviously a far-reaching problem across platform.
CONCLUSION:
It is very apparent that CBS has changed the duration Authentication portion and only wants they're app to work for 24 hours to enable inconvenience and hardship on viewers using the app. They have no intention on fixing it as has been constituted through a change sometime back in 2021 and they are pushing their Paramount plus subscriptions.
Nobody that has the right via another television provider wants to pay extra money to use another Network's app that provides the same service they're already paying for. This is tantamount to every one trying to milk money out of a consumer for multiple venues to use the same service. What some people don't seem to realize is that all the major TV providers transmit over the air and in most places in the country( unless you live in the desert in Nevada) can pick up most major networks over an antenna for FREE. Let me say that one more time FOR FREE. I cannot sense all transmissions turn digital between the year 2008 and 2010, the shorter wavelength is more susceptible to refraction, reflection and obstacles. I have a 10-story building across the street that interferes with all broadcast signals from any television station. I pay $30 a month to get my local programming which is supposed to be FREE. That $30 charge comes with maybe four other channels I may watch and that's about it. Very expensive for something that is normally free with an antenna. With my TV provider subscription I'm supposed to be able to stream from the major Network apps but like CVS they want you to pay more money to only use their app. This is nothing more than a greedy money grab from all directions. Many households now have multiple streaming subscriptions to stream the same content from various sources and don't even realize they're paying double and triple. This is all by Design By Network operators, television service providers, and the like.
SOLUTION 1:
I'm not a big proponent on big government stepping in but in a capitalistic Society where everybody is trying to grab money it almost is needed. The only way this will get fixed is to write congressman and senators and have the government step in with regulation or else everybody will be sucking money out of our pockets at every turn and every angle. Because in a capitalistic Society it's all about money and how much you can get of it with no regard to what the consumer is paying and how many times they pay for the same service.
SOLUTION 2:
Another way to get change and have this fixed is to flood CBS with emails and phone calls from tens of thousands of people every month until they get the point of what the consumer wants and they change their policy and tactics. If they get bugged repeatedly and waste hours and hours of their customer support agents time they may find it or cost-effective to just change their policy and tactics.
I called the phone number listed in one of the posts and it was specifically Paramount plus support. I was then given another phone number and upon calling it is a Viacom number which is apparently who owns CBS. Not sure if this is the right number but they only have Monday through Friday hours and if enough people fled them with complaints maybe that will work.
This number is: (212) 258-6000
Solution 3:
If enough people refuse to use the annoying app they will lose viewership and add dollars and this may be enough to get them to change their policy and tactics.
Solution 4:
Do what API-is-awful suggested and download them from the internet and play them on a Plex or Kodi box which I used to do and may go back to doing. This will also cause them to lose add revenue if enough people do it. Some call it illegal pyridine but I think we all have a good argument as to not letting them charge us two or three times for the same content. We have that right to fight back against irony and double and triple taxation.
As a side note :
Someone posted that logging in once in a while or once a month is not a big deal. My TV provider provides about 30 channels and it takes a couple minutes per Channel to reauthenticate with a code. Multiply that times 30 and it takes almost an hour and a half which is time I don't want to spend every month. This is ridiculous. Some people have more channels to authenticate. Furthermore while there is a struggle on apps and TV providers to charge people mostly for television that is free OTA ( over-the-air), I remember a time that most young Generations do not wear the way you paid for television was by watching commercials. Now TV providers popped up first in the form of cable and then satellite to charge you for this then offering you more channels to provide some kind of value. We still pay for the television content by watching commercials and now they have it delivered to us and sometimes even they want to charges $2 or $3 per episode and then still watch commercials. Think about this for a minute.
