@Mr+Ripley wrote:
I am currently watching Yellowjackets S3 & Dexter: Original Sin S1 on Paramount+, this is my experience over the last three nights.
Monday: Used P+ via the app on my TV. Noticed a lip-sync issue. Came out of the app & used the app via my Sky Q box. No more issues.
Tuesday: Used P+ via my Sky Q box. Straight away, there was a weird issue, it was like a mass pixelation error & the whole of the screen looked like some kind of abstract painting. This kept happening for the next few minutes, so I came out of the app. Used the app via my TV & no more issues.
Wednesday: Used the app via my TV. Saw a trailer for a new season of South Park & this was followed by the buffering circle of doom & then the " Whoops " error message. Tried reloading three times & then gave up. Used the app via Sky Q & no more issues.
I am paying top-tier pricing for this nonsense. This is a company that has been in the business for over a hundred years, & yet they can't put together a simple platform that works properly. Did they not look at the other platforms that came before them to see how it should be done? Hopefully, I will have finished the two series before I have to make my next payment, then it will be bye-bye Paramount+. That is until July, when Dexter: Resurrection comes to P+. Fingers crossed for that.
I know someone will suggest I contact them, so I looked at their help page. Their suggestion for technical issues is to reboot the router. My router is fine, all other platforms work okay, as does my internet. Contact is via their chatbot, which can lead to speaking to a person. No doubt they will tell me to reboot my router. I can't find an email address for them.
Hardly a day goes by on this board without someone complaining about P+, so I am clearly not alone in my frustration.
You're definitely not alone — Paramount+ has been one of the more inconsistent apps when it comes to performance, especially across different platforms like TVs and Sky Q. The experience you’ve described — lip-sync issues, abstract pixelation, buffering errors — is unfortunately quite common and seems to vary by device and day.
It’s honestly ridiculous how hit-and-miss the service can be for a premium subscription, especially when other platforms manage to maintain a much smoother experience.
A few thoughts that might help, though none are silver bullets:
- Alternating between Sky Q and the TV app seems like the only way to "balance" the issues for now — strange as that sounds. When one plays up, the other tends to behave.
- Clear cache/data on your TV app, if your TV supports that option. Some people have found it temporarily helps the "buffering and abstract painting" issue.
- Use a streaming stick or box (Fire TV / Roku / Apple TV) if you've one lying around — in many cases, these run the Paramount+ app more reliably than smart TVs or Sky Q.
Contacting support is, as you said, mostly unhelpful — the "reboot your router" line is classic. But if you can get through to a live agent, you might be able to log a proper technical complaint and at least register that your account has been impacted.
And yes, for a company with this much media heritage, you'd expect a better tech infrastructure. The fact that you’re bouncing between devices night to night just to watch two shows says it all.
Fingers crossed for Dexter: Resurrection — hopefully they’ve patched the app before then. 🤞
