TCL Roku TV Live TV Not Working- How To Fix Channel Issue

Noah Clark

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About TCL Roku TV Live TV Not Working, The TCL Roku TV was a great integration of Smart TV that brought the Roku streaming app with new versions of TCL TV. 

It meant you could access over 500,000 movies from streaming channels. 

However, these models have recently shown flaws in failing to load channels or showing error messages when streaming. 

It is a common problem, and in this guide, we’ll learn how to fix it once and for all. 

Table of Contents

Check The Internet Connectivity

Before inspecting the TCL Roku TV, check whether you have a stable internet connection. 

Check the TV’s connection settings and ensure it says connected, then check the level of the internet (usually in ascending bars). 

If the internet is connected and still not responding, you likely have a speed issue. 

Use your phone to check the internet speed on third-party websites to ensure it has enough to stream and use other devices connected to it. 

Sometimes, the latency might affect your streaming, and you can change it to 5 GHz instead of the common 2.4 GHz. 

A lower WiFi band (e.g., 2.4 GHz) may transmit the internet but gets worked up when the traffic is too high. 

Finally, you can try connecting to an ethernet cable which will negate all the issues associated with wireless connections. 

Check For Updates

Like any other device, Roku provides regular updates to fix bugs and add new features to the smart TV. If you’re going to do it manually, follow these steps. 

  1. Navigate to the settings of the Roku TV home screen. 
  2. Choose the System option from the menu. 
  3. After that, press System Update and then Check Now to look for updates
  4. Once the update is complete, install it and restart the TV. 
  5. Turn on Roku TV and check if the channels are working. 

Antenna and Dish TV Issues

Man fixing an antenna TV dish 

Man fixing an antenna TV dish 

If the channel issue has something to do with OTA channels, the issue lies squarely on your Tv antenna. 

Certain conditions, such as bad weather and external obstructions, affect OTA channels on your TCL Roku TV. 

In extreme weather situations, you may have to wait until it calms down for better reception. 

Another option is repositioning your antenna to a better place, most likely facing the equator or towards the local broadcast towers.

 Choose a location with few obstructions, and you may immediately see marginal improvements in the signal. 

As you move the antenna, rescan the Roku TV to find the ultimate spot for the strongest signals. 

If all these don’t work, you can contact TCL and see if they have any issues with OTA antennas or related issues. 

Check The Coaxial Cable

Black coaxial cable 

Black coaxial cable 

As the length of the coaxial cable increases, there is a higher chance of attenuation or signal loss from the antenna.

 That said, check your coaxial cable’s length and see if it is causing the signal interference in your TV. 

Generally, the coaxial cable length should not exceed 100 ft; anything above will generate white noise. 

You can place your television closer to the cables or find a different type of coaxial cable. 

While looking for a better cable looks like a solid fix, it is way too technical and may cost some more money. 

We recommend shortening the coaxial cable or maintaining lengths below 80 ft for better reception. 

TCL Roku TV Live TV Not Working: Channel Blocked

If you cannot play a specific channel in the home menu, try assessing if it is restricted in your region. 

Location blocking of TV channels is common in the US, particularly streaming.  

To see if you have access to the channels or not, contact customer support. 

However, in some instances, you can watch blocked IPTV channels through a VPN network. 

The VPNs give your network a compliant IP address that allows Roku TV to show the channel. 

Restart Device And Rescan The Channels

A quick fix when the channels do not work on your TCL Roku TV is to restart the device. There are two ways to do this- power cycling the Roku TV or manually restarting the menu board. 

Power cycling is a standard method to fix temporary electronic device bugs. It involves unplugging the TCL Roku TV for a few seconds and plugging it back.  

Alternatively, you can restart the device using system commands in the following steps. 

  1. Go to settings and click on System. 
  2. Select the Power option and click on System Restart. 
  3.  Press OK for the restart process to begin. 

After completion, you can rescan the TCL Roku TV for antenna channels in the following steps. 

  1. Go to the home screen and select Antenna TV. 
  2. Press the * button on the remote to scan for channels. 
  3. Press Start Finding Channels and  choose “ No, channels 3 & 4 not needed.” 
  4. It will prompt a scanning tab. 
  5. Skip this step if you have a cable connection. Otherwise, press Done to complete the scanning process. 

TCL Roku TV Live TV Not Working: Prioritizing Channel Visibility

Sometimes your Antenna and Live TV channels may get tangled, creating a difficult mess when locating a specific channel. 

You can hide certain channels to make it easy to find your favorite ones. For instance, if you prefer Live TV channels, you can hide OTA and HDTV channels. 

To do this, follow these steps on your Roku Smart TV. 

  1. Click on Settings and select TV inputs 
  2. Choose the input type, for instance, OTA TV 
  3. You now have the option to hide specific channels like Hide Live Tv channels.

Also, you can manage your channel lineup to select certain channels in one group. This feature can be used to hide channels as well. Here is how to do it. 

  1. Click on the Settings tab and select Edit Channel lineup
  2. Press Hide channels
  3. Restart the device and check if they are working. 

Uncheck the Favorite Option

Favorite symbol 

Favorite symbol 

One common issue affecting almost all Smart TVs is the Favorite Channel options in the TV inputs. 

It’s worth noting this issue cuts across all TV input channels, from Live Tv to Antenna TV and Cable TV. 

Now, you only need to uncheck the Favorite option in the settings. Here is how. 

  1. Click the settings menu and select TV inputs 
  2. Select your preferred input, like Live TV input. 
  3. Under the Favorite Channels menu, uncheck it. 
  4.  Exit the settings and restart your TV. 

TCL Roku TV Live TV Not Working: External Storage

USB stick and a flat-screen TV

USB stick and a flat-screen TV

The USB thumbstick is a notorious device with such a bug. Of course, the remedy is to unplug the stick and check if the issue is resolved. 

You can also format the USB stick to see if it removes the bug. In some unorthodox circumstances, some people have found that plugging in the USB stick has helped them find specific channels on the TCL Roku TV. 

Remove and Re-add the Channels

Some channels with the Roku app on the TCL Roku TV are buggy and generally inoperable. 

These IPTV apps may have playback issues or sometimes not open at all. The ideal way to deal with this is to remove the channel and re-add it from the store online. 

Here is how to remove a channel from Roku. 

  1. Go to the Home screen and select the stubborn channel. 
  2. Press the * button to show the drop-down settings.
  3. Click remove channel. 
  4. Please wait for it to remove and delete the channel. 

Restart your TCL Roku TV after removing the channel. To add it again, go to the channel store and select Streaming channels. Browse for the channel and click on add. 

Hard Reset the TV

In certain situations, you may have to reset the whole TV firmware to remove the scampering bug. 

A factory reset will clear all cache, memory, and any temporary bugs affecting the TV. It will also reset the settings to default and remove all personal preferences you made. 

There are many ways to reset your TV, but the common one is simply pressing the reset button on the TV. 

You can also use interface commands to reset your TCL Roku TV using the following steps. 

  1. Go to the settings tab and select System. 
  2. Click on Advanced System Settings. 
  3. Press Factory Reset and then input the Special code. 
  4. Press OK to initiate the reset. 

Once the reset has been completed, you can set up the Roku TV like you did when it was new. 

Conclusion

TCL Roku TVs are great smart TVs as they integrate seamlessly with live TV and Antenna with minimal cable connections. 

However, the device is prone to errors, and the channels stop working. We hope the solutions sort out your TCL Roku Live TV. 

If you can’t get any solutions from our guide, please do not hesitate to contact ROKU and TCL for further directions.