Solving playback issues

[Sudz28]

We have several Roku devices, but one in particular - our Roku 3 - has had an ongoing problem for several months now.  When watching YouTube on it, we can usually get through one or two videos without incident but then, usually right after an ad for some reason, it will suddenly begin to 'stutter' and jitter (both video and audio), before freezing entirely.

Typically when this happens all we have to do is reboot the Roku, re-launch YouTube, and it works fine again for a bit but I'm curious if anyone else has experienced this problem?  Like I said we have several other Roku devices and none of them have ever done this before and we watch YouTube on pretty much all of them, so it would appear this problem is specific to this one device.  I'm guessing either it's a problem endemic to the hardware itself, or maybe the device is just starting to go bad.  It is about 9 years old at this point.

We haven't noticed this issue with any other channel, but then again I'm not sure that we usually use this particular Roku (which is in our workout room) for anything other than YouTube viewing.

[RokuTakashi]

Hi, @Sudz28

Thanks for posting here in the Roku Community.

We appreciate you for sharing this information with us, and we would be more than glad to assist. Since you're having an issue with just one channel and with a specific Roku device, we recommend performing the steps below to resolve the issue:

1. Navigate to the channel tile on the Roku home screen, press the star (*) key on your remote, and choose "Remove channel".
2. Next, restart your device from Settings > System > Power > System Restart (If you do not see a Power submenu, skip to the next step).
3. Once your player/TV starts up again, go to "Streaming Store" on the Home screen, and add the channel back once more.
4. You may also refer to this link: How to resolve a channel playback issue | Official Roku Support

After performing, kindly observe is the issue persists.

Please keep us posted on how this works.

Best wishes,
Kash

[Sudz28]

Thank you for the suggestion.  I did as you said, removed the YouTube app, restarted the Roku device, and re-installed.  This seemed to fix the issue as the next couple of times I used it, I didn't encounter any stuttering, but by the 3rd or 4th time using it, the stuttering and freezing came back.  It always coincides with YouTube forcing a new ad to my feed, typically right when I start a new video or sometimes at the very end of one, but either way the issue always arises in conjunction with a video ad being inserted.  I'm not sure what changes about the YouTube code/feed when they fire an ad at you, but that's the common denominator.

[RokuArjiemar]

Hello! @Sudz28,

Thanks for the post,

We have gone through the necessary troubleshooting steps and confirmed that your Roku device is up to date. Also, all other channels are working fine. Therefore, we recommend that you contact the channel publisher directly for further assistance. Please get in touch with them and let them know about the troubleshooting steps you have already attempted with us.

Feel free to review our recommended steps for resolving channel-related playback issues here: How to resolve a channel playback issue

Thanks,

Arjiemar

[emers623]

Wow I'm not the only one I guess. This has been happening with our tv as well. I also noticed that it seemed to stay happening once YouTube changed up the way they're doing their ads and it's usually with this dumb ones that have the QR codes but sometimes it'll happen with others as well. But yeah it seriously happens all the time and it's really freaking frustrating to say the least. 

[RokuJohnB]

Hi @emers623,

Greetings from the Roku Community, and thanks for raising this concern directly with us!

We want to further investigate this issue that you're having. May we know what troubleshooting steps you have taken so far? When did the issue start?

We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Regards,
John