In case you find your Roku TV antenna channels missing, don’t panic – you’re not alone! A lot of Roku TV users like you are experiencing the same issue!
For today’s guide, we will walk you through the process of how you can fix this problem. We will also teach you how to add antenna channels on Roku TV, as well as give you tips on how to access the Roku antenna secret screen!
To fix the missing over-the-air (OTA) or antenna channels, perform a reset on your Roku TV. You can do this by going into Settings > Power. From there, try to locate Restart or System Restart. After that, perform a rescan on your channels.
To know the exact steps let’s dive in!
Why Did My TV Antenna Lost Channels?
There are quite a few reasons why some of your TV antenna channels sporadically disappear and become lost.
Here are some of the most common reasons why your Roku TV antenna fails to pick up these channels:
Longer Than the Usual Coaxial Cables
This information isn’t general knowledge, and therefore, people don’t actually think of it as a problem. But, there have been many reports when long coaxial cables are the culprit for the missing channels.
If you have a coaxial cable that is longer than 100 feet, then you could possibly lose about 30% of the signals/channels you’re receiving.
So, make sure that your coax cable is below the 100-feet range.
Antenna Placement Isn’t Good.
Another reason, which is one of the most common, is when your antenna doesn’t have direct sight to the tower.
It could be because of towers, trees, buildings, cement, scaffolding, and other obstructions blocking it. More so, it could also be due to the fact that it’s not facing the correct direction.
Broken or Damaged Antenna
Many people aren’t equipped with the right amount of skill and knowledge in determining whether or not their antennas are broken/damaged.
That being said, they’re not aware that the reason why they have missing channels is because of their malfunctioning antenna.
Should you be part of the demographic that doesn’t know how to check this, here are a few tips to bear in mind:
- Physical damages are the most common. Check your antenna and see if there are some broken parts/components
- Check cables, wires, and cords and ensure that everything is correctly plugged in – it’s also worth checking to see if there are broken cables and wires
- You can check and assess if the antenna is the one damaged by plugging the connector into another television
These are just some of the most common reasons why you could be missing some antenna channels on your Roku TV.
How to Fix Roku TV Antenna Channels Missing Problem
For you to be able to fix this particular dilemma, you need to perform the following:
Step 1: Turn On Your Roku TV
The very first step you have to do is to make sure that your Roku TV is turned on and activated, you wouldn’t be able to fix it if it’s turned off.
Step 2: Reset/Restart Your Roku TV
Then, once you’re sure that it’s turned on, what you want to do next is to perform a reset/reboot of your Roku TV.
From here, you want to access the Home panel of your Roku TV and on the left-hand-side menu, click on Settings. From settings, you want to go to the system settings – so click on System > Power.
What this does is allow your Roku TV to reboot and restart to freshen up its connection.
Wait for it to boot up and go onto the next step, which is…
Step 3: Perform a Rescan of Channels
When you have the system running back up again, what you want to do next is to rescan the channels. To do this, press the star [*] button on your remote.
Scroll up and select Scan for Channels, and press [OK].
A prompt will appear that will tell you that if you already have a cable or an antenna, the system will search for the channels that are currently all available.
From there, you just have to press on the option that says Start Finding Channels. Then, you have to hit on No, Channels 3 & 4 are not needed. Then, by the end of the guided prompts, it’ll tell you the total list of channels found.
If you don’t want to see specific channels, you’ll then be prompted to follow this route:
- Go to Settings
- Edit Channel Lineup
- Then Hide Channels
NOTE: The entire process can take up to a total of 30 minutes, and this also is the way on how to add channels on your Roku TV.
So that’s how you fix the problem or the dilemma of having missing channels on your Roku TV. And, should you be interested, you can also actually access a secret menu on your Roku TV!
How to Access Roku Antenna Secret Screen
Many users aren’t aware of this, but Roku TV actually has a secret screen that can open a lot of cool features and settings you wouldn’t be able to toggle through the normal settings.
The Roku antenna secret menu has quite a few different screens that have different purposes. To access this secret screen, just follow these steps:
Step 1: Turn on or Activate Roku TV
What you want to do firsthand is to activate or turn on Roku TV. Then, you would have to press a couple of buttons on your remote in a specific order.
These buttons are…
Step 2: Pressing Buttons
To be able to access it, you would have to press the [HOME] once to be at the home panel, then, you’d have to press it again five (5) times. After that, press the [>>>] fast-forward, [PLAY] button, [REWIND] button, and the [PLAY] button once again, then lastly, the fast forward button.
Step 3: Waiting for the Scrolling
After you press all of these buttons, your screen will start to scroll and move on its own. What you just have to do now is to wait for the scrolling to stop.
When it does, a prompt will appear telling you that you’ve already access the Roku Platform Secret Screen.
This contains a couple of settings in the likes of a Systems Operations Menu, Disable Travel Connect, Wi-Fi Remote Menu, etc.
And that’s just about it! Congratulations!
You were able to access Roku’s secret platform screen, in which you can toggle for a few different settings!
Do You Still Have Missing Antenna Channels?
So, you’ve followed this guide step-by-step, but you still have a couple of channels missing, what do you do?
If the issue on your end is still left unresolved, the best thing to do is to contact Roku’s client experience and technical support team and tell them that you have missing antenna channels on your Roku TV.
What they’ll do to help you is to run specific and technical troubleshooting steps to help you get back and add channels on your Roku TV.
Conclusion
Many of you thought that these missing channels would already be gone forever, but, in reality, they’re actually easy to fix!
So, the next time you find some Roku TV antenna channels missing, don’t panic! Just go back to this guide again and have a permanent fix to your temporary problem!
Read Next: Steps to get Peacock TV on your Roku!
Kevin has over five years of experience working in various Tech startups and providing Technical solutions. He has contributed to many Tech publications and websites.
