Google nest hub YouTube playback errors

[Jhelper]

Like some other users, for the last few weeks, I keep getting errors when I try to play YouTube on the Google nest hub. This is weird: If I ask it to play MSNBC on YouTube TV, it tells me this video requires payment to watch and tells me to open the YouTube TV app and send feedback report and ID (I don’t see the option to send feedback when I look in settings). The funny part is, if I ask you to play CNN on YouTube TV, it does so, and then, if I ask you to play MSNBC, it goes right in the head and does it no problem. I have the same problem on to Google nest hubs. Never had problems like this with either of them for the last two years I’ve used them. This is crazy and quite maddening.

[Siparo]

I’m having this problem on all 4 of my Google home hubs. It works fine on appletv and iPads. 

[LovelyM]

Hi folks, 

Thanks for reaching out and I'm sorry for this experience.

I'd like to dig deeper into this. Is this only happening when playing MSNBC? If not, what other channels are experiencing this issue? Have you tried any troubleshooting steps before?

Keep me posted.

Best, 
Lovely

[Jhelper]

I’ve only noticed it with MSNBC, but I imagine it would probably happen with other commands as well? (Ok, I admit it, that’s pretty much all I watch.)

I have tried unplugging the Google nest, hubs and waiting a while and plug them back in and that never helps. I figured out how to send a screenshot to Feedback and I’ve done that to ton of times now but haven’t gotten a response. It’s very weird that this started happening on both the Google nest hubs at the same time so it can’t be a device specific thing I figure. I’ve tried to check to see if maybe I was on the wrong profile, but it seems to be on the right one.  Any other troubleshooting you’d like me to try?

[LovelyM]

Hello Jhelper, 

Please check with another channel so we can isolate this issue. Try changing the Assistant language to either English US, CA or UK and see if the command to play MSNBC now works or not.

Let me know how it goes.

Thanks, 
Lovely

[Jhelper]

Ok, I tried 20 other channels. Some of them work, some of them say they “ok, playing [that channel]…” but then give me playback error, some of them say “ok…” but then give me a black screen with the YouTube logo and “ready to cast” on the bottom of the screen, and then some of those that at first worked then give me a playback error when I try them again. It seems some channels, like CNN, always work, some channels like MSNBC almost always don’t work but once in a while they do, and other channels will work sometimes and not others. I can’t imagine that’s very helpful information, but it is what it is. Any idea what the heck is going on? 

[jjay]

Your comment about CNN is funny.  That has been my test channel and it almost always fails.

[Seankegelman]

Same issues. Kept happening all the time. Finally decided to get another tv for kitchen. 

[Siparo]

I generally notice it with CNBC. 

[SqueakyWheeler]

This happens to me, frequently, on Nest Hub 2nd Generation and Nest Hub Max.

First I wake up in the morning and say "watch MSNBC".  50% of the time I get a black playback error screen showing the same error in the original post about requiring payment.

The workaround I've found is then saying "what's on TV" so it will show the YouTube TV channel list.  Then if I tap a channel from there, 75% of the time it works, 25% of the time the same error happens.  If I repeat this with different channels eventually one will work.

Once one of them works and the channel is playing, NOW if I say "watch MSNBC", it works.

It's kind of like whichever channels I watch the most are the ones most likely to fail with the error.

This is incredibly annoying that the Hub cannot do the one thing that I always want it to do.  This has been happening for 1-2 months.

[Jhelper]

EXACTLY!!!!!

[Muddi]

Hey folks,

It's been some time since this thread was updated. Does anyone here need assistance?

Cheers,

Muddi

[jjay]

hahah. yes. very much still a problem.  For me, I have had a case open since March, 2023  regarding this issue.

[Oakman2002]

Yes. This happens to me daily. Do you have a fix or instructions to resolve the issue?

[SqueakyWheeler]

I have found another workaround for this which definitely points to YouTube TV being to blame.

If I experience the problem, saying "close YouTube TV" seems to force shutdown the app and then if I ask to watch the same thing that just failed it works.  So I guess I need to train myself to say that every time I'm done, and not just "stop".

[jjay]

running to the kitchen to try this out right now! thanks for sharing

[WRM1]

Just tried this - it worked... 🙂 could it be that simple?  

[SqueakyWheeler]

This workaround doesn't actually always work, in the end.  But the behavior does seem to depend on whatever channel was last viewed on the hub.  Whatever it was, trying to play it again hours or days later with no activity between yields the error a high percentage of the time (I'd say 80-90% if I had to estimate, if not 100%).  The only workaround that seems to actually work every single time the error occurs is to ask it to play any other channel, then ask it to play the channel you want again.  You don't even have to wait for the other channel to fully start playing.

The fact that nobody seems interested in our thread, or fixing this, is pretty sad.  As a software developer I would say the fix for this, even if implemented as a hacky workaround in code, is surely dead simple.  And it annoys me every single day as a user, multiple times per day.  Contributes to an overall feeling that Google products are going downhill and nobody at Google cares (along with other things constantly changing and breaking about the way commands to control devices work).

[WRM1]

This happens OFTEN.  Just happened again this morning (4/25/2023).  My Nest Hub Max played it, then went to my office, tried to watch on nest hub 2nd gen and got playback error.  This flips back and forth from max to 2nd gen.  It seemed to only start in the past 2 months or so?  But it is very annoying.

[FixItGoog]

This is exactly my experience, despite doing a factory reset. Why isn't Google helping or fixing this problem? @Muddi 

[jjay]

I have the same problem on my 2nd Gen Nest Hub.  (Playback error This video requires payment to watch 2: F4PP P7PM QPYS)

I have gone through 5 Google support techs.  One recommended uninstalled the Youtube TV app from my Nest Hub, yet they could not tell me how to do it.  I don't believe that's possible.

I've factory reset the hub a bunch of times.  No change.  I've uninstalled and reinstalled everything on my phone.  No change.  

Interestingly, if I launch YouTube TV on my Pixel and cast from there to the Nest Hub, it starts the app and streams correctly.

[jjay]

I just received this information from support which might help someone.

This is Mark with the YouTube TV Team. I'm taking a moment to follow up on our chat about the error message you’ve reported.

I've heard back from our team, who let us know in order for the command to work, you need to have the YouTube TV app installed on the device where you want it to play. 

You can check your NestHub if it has a YouTube TV app, if none, you can go to the App Store to download the app, and then sign in to the app. After that, you can try to command NestHub to play YouTube TV to it.

Please use this email to reach me if you have questions and if you need further assistance. I'm always here to help! Otherwise, you can always reach my team 24/7 by phone, email, or chat if you’re needing immediate assistance.




All the best,

Mark T.
The YouTube TV Team

[jjay]

and then:

Thank you for writing back and the additional information on the device.

I'm afraid the feature of playing the YouTube TV app from the Nest Hub won't work without the YouTube TV app installed or linked on the device. The casting will work if the device is cast-ready, but having it to play from the device by not casting will be dependent on the device. You can visit the supported devices on YouTube TV to get an idea of what devices can install the app.

I'm not sure if the device has the feature of adding apps, but I'll refer this case to the Google Home team to see if adding the YouTube TV app on the device is possible. If so, then you should be able to play the YouTube TV app from the Nest Hub.

The team will reach out to you via email with the answer if the Google Nest Hub can add or link the YouTube TV app so you can play the app directly from the device.

[Jhelper]

Thank you to everyone who has joined this conversation to help joust at the windmill! Special thanks to jjay for reposting the response he got from Tech-support. However, feel free to tell that tech (and the world) that I checked, and YouTube TV is indeed one of the apps installed on my Google Nest because I see it under “See all” [apps]. When I clicked on it, it gave me a selection of shows it thought I might like. When I clicked on the first show, from MSNBC, it then gave me the same playback error! When I tried it again (scroll up from bottom, hit “See all,” click on YouTube TV, which is the 2nd to last app), it went straight to the playback error without giving me a choice of shows to choose this time. So, although the tech who emailed you had a suggestion that was nice in theory, in practice it’s not at all true: I have the app installed, and it doesn’t help avoid the error.

Ok, Google, what’s next?

[Oakman2002]

I am having the same problem, but with Fox news.

[Scott402]

Thanks everyone. Google, what changed?

I've been having this same issue for 3-4 months across 7 TVs (6 Samsungs, 1 Sony) and 7 Google minis. Everything worked great for years, then I started getting the "Playback error...requires payment...report ID" message. Almost any initial request to play results in the error. I then request a second channel which works, and I finally request the original channel which works like it should. It happens with systems that turn on/off with voice commands and those that only run YTTV with voice commands. Maddening. OK with upgrading to Nest devices if I'm sure it will be fixed...which based on this thread I'm not sure it will. Google?

[Oakman2002]

Can we get an update from Google on this?

[jjay]

I have had some luck lately saying "ok Google, stop YouTube tv" and then asking the Assistant to play a channel on YouTube tv.

Your mileage may vary. 

[jjay]

this has now stopped working consistently, or more accurately it works as often as not doing this.  sorry for the false alarm

i did receive some emails from Google support who suggested stopping the YouTube TV app by giving the "Close YouTube TV" command.  That also is not working any better than "usual" for me.

Here is what they said:

---

According to our specialist, one possible cause of the issue is that the YouTube TV app was not closed properly after your previous use. This could have led to the app being in an idle or standby state without being refreshed, resulting in the current issue.

To address this, our specialist recommends using a specific command when closing the app instead of simply saying "Stop." The command you should use is "Close YouTube TV." By using this command, you can ensure that the app is fully closed and not left in a suspended state.

I kindly ask you to follow these steps:

1. Close the YouTube TV app completely.
2. Instead of saying "Stop" use the command "Close YouTube TV" to ensure proper closure.
3. Afterward, please try using the command again to watch the desired channel. 

We believe that this solution may resolve the issue you've been facing. Thank you for your patience and cooperation. We value your feedback, and we will continue working to provide you with the best possible experience.

---

Good luck everyone!

[username592847]

Getting the same exact error on multiple google home hubs and multiple chromecasts. How is there not a solve for this? Google are you paying attention??

[username592847]

Called google on this issue as well. YouTube tv support transferred me to chromecast support. Chromecast support transferred me to google home support. Google home support transferred me to YouTube tv support. 3 hours on the phone ended up in circles. 

idk why I’m even paying for YouTube tv at this point. 

[Siparo]

I believe I have a solution!  When you are finished with YoutubeTV, say “Hey Google, I’m Done”. Do not say Hey Google, STOP”. This change seems to have solved the problem for me. 

Since I started this I have not had the error.

[Oakman2002]

This continues to happen for me with multiple stations now. I'm seriously considering cancelling my YoutubeTv. Will definitely not buy any nest products in the future.

[username592847]

I may have figured something that works. I unplugged all devices including router and restart everything. (google home hubs, chromecasts, router). I’ve read that this could be due to different versions of software or some miscommunication between devices (which is why router reset may have helped). 

Haven’t gotten it past few days so fingers crossed. 

[xuduo18]

Iphone to chromecast.  Same issue. I can't believe this is a google product.