Troubleshooting – Content- common mistakes you should avoid when adding content to your channel.
After submitting a channel for approval, you’ll get a list of errors if something’s wrong or not correctly configured. Roku always indicates what and where the error is, so you know where to fix it.
Amazon tells you to look in terms of services, but if a channel passes verification and goes to publishing in Roku, it should be good to go for Amazon too.
So first, maybe you should try to publish your channel on Roku, and if everything checks out correctly, you know that on Amazon, the only problem you may have is copyright-related.
The most commonly encountered error is the video id – the video id must be unique.
We like to generate a lot of ids and then use them one by one beforehand. A straightforward way to compose this video ID would be, for example, the current date and a video number, this way; you know that your video id will be unique for every video inside your channel.
Another common mistake is using special characters.
For example, if you want to use the dollar sign in your title on Roku, it probably would pass it, but on Amazon, for sure, it won’t.
Also, avoid using Asterix ( * ), any unique character might raise a flag, and your video will fail.
Another very often encountered mistake is the quality of the video itself. If your video is HD, select HD; if your video is full HD, select FHD; it makes sense, right? The same goes for your video format.
This is very important; the video may pass the first approval process, but both networks, Roku and Amazon, use AI to continuously scan the channel for all signals. They may block your channel or even un-publish it if something’s wrong.
Please keep in mind that it’s not the requirement yet, but both platforms recommend a minimum of HD quality video.
HD stands for high-definition video. It should have a size of 1280×720 pixels.
Another mistake that we see very frequently is the thumbnail image.
The size for the thumbnail image is 800×450 pixels in png or jpeg format.
If your video is longer than 15 minutes, Roku requires it to have a trick play file for that video; we use trick play files for all our videos because if they start demanding it for longer videos, they might need it sooner or later for shorter videos too, so it’s best to be prepared ahead of time.
Another mistake is the video itself. Just because you need quality content, if your video is marked as HD video, but it’s highly pixelated, for example, or if you have playback issues, or the video doesn’t play well, both platforms will take action. They may take down that video or, in some cases, the entire channel. So make sure that your videos are playing in a browser.
Just copy and paste the video link in the browser, and you’ll see if your video files are loading; and make sure that the video has good quality, is not pixelated, and has good sound.
Make sure all your videos have the quality you select in your settings.
If you experience video issues repeatedly, and if Roku and Amazon signal errors with your videos, you should consider changing your video hosting platform to avoid unpublishing your channel.
These are the most common mistakes; see you in the next article.