Paramount+ audio breaks and is non existent after first commercial marker break

bainmeister1

I am experiencing a consistent issue when downloading episodes from Paramount+ using StreamFab.

Show: The Madison
Episodes affected: 4–6
Episodes working correctly: 1–3

Issue description:
In episodes 4–6, audio stops completely shortly after the first commercial break. For example, in Episode 4, audio cuts out a few seconds after the 17-minute mark and does not return for the remainder of the episode. Video continues to play normally.

Verification:

When watching the same episode in a standard Chrome browser, the 17-minute mark corresponds exactly to a commercial break.
After the commercials finish in the browser, audio resumes normally.
In the downloaded files, audio does not resume after this point.

Additional testing performed:

Tried both EAC3 and AAC audio options
Tried both 1080p and 720p downloads
Re-downloaded multiple times
Issue persists consistently at the same timestamp

Conclusion:
This appears to be an issue with how StreamFab handles audio segment stitching after ad breaks in Paramount+ streams.

Please investigate and advise if there is a fix or workaround available.

Thank you.

David_L312

I’ve seen this too with Colbert and the Daily Show.
I tried going back to 7017 but am getting M3U errors.

Stan001

I keep saying someday I may get Paramount+ for a month or 2.

I think I also hold back as seems there is some strange issues going on with SF and how it works on Paramount+
There are many here who do have Paramount so will see what is said about the issues.

Germania

Stan001 There are many here who do have Paramount so will see what is said about the issues.

I have already confirmed this for NCIS.s23e12 - post 41 here
and this affects multiple new releases - but not all

russell

Daily show videos downloaded with version 7.0.1.8 for Windows, have a playback issue at the half-way point of the video. Approximately half way through, after where a commercial break would fall, the video has no sound. Furthermore, some playback software thinks the end of the file has been reached.

I’ve removed everything in the temp and logs directory.
I’ve fully uninstalled and reinstalled the software.
Issue persists.

Germania

russell

The only available solution (as workaround) is the use of SF <7012

classic57b

Went back to 7.0.1.2 and am getting “Failed to Obtain MPD/M3U8, Please contact us for assistance” on Paramount +. Tracker, Marshals, Watson and 60 minutes.

OK, I just noticed the “<”. I’ll go back to 7.0.1.1

dalemccl

I get the audio dropout in Boston Blue S01E12 with 7.0.1.8. I’m in the U.S. so don’t want to go back to an earlier version where 1080p is not available. I’ll wait for a fix from the developers (I hope they are working on a fix).

GomezAddams

i am waiting for a fix too

tswizzlestix

Confirmed, happened on both episodes I’ve downloaded and watched via paramount directly

johnpgravallese3

I’m experiencing the same thing with The Madison (S01E4-6), Marshals (S01E04), Boston Blue (S01E12), Tracker (S03E13) & Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage (S02E13).

chrys100

after upgrading to 7.0.1.9 audio now works flawlessly in Austria. Thank you for fixing it
However one advice to my Austrian fellows: P+ offers only AAC 2.0 in Austria, so VPN via Germany is needed to get 5.1. But that’s nothing, SF could solve, you can’t get what is not there

TheRaven

7019 has not solved the problem for me in Canada. Yes, the missing audio is there, but it is way out of sync. Also, it is only AAC 2.0, where I was getting EAC 5.1 previously.

AnttDvdFab

I’m confirming that after 7019 there is indeed continuous audio when I checked The Madison.

For me in the US it is perfectly in sync.

However, as reported, in episodes 4+ it is in AAC 2.0 audio, not E-AC3 5.1 like episodes 1-3. Re-downloading episode 1 still pulls E-AC3. I haven’t checked the mpd to verify that 5.1 is even offered in the newer episodes - may do that later tonight.

In other words - 7019 was a band-aid and not a fix.

Germania

AnttDvdFab I haven’t checked the mpd to verify that 5.1 is even offered in the newer episodes

Of course P+ offer EAC3 5.1 (en) for The Madison.s01e04 ..

.. but SF get an error 404 from link.theplatform.com
so it use a different mpd without EAC

TheRaven

I got audio back in sync by changing from MKVToolNix to FFmpeg. Hopefully other audio issue can be fixed.

nsomneeak

Prefix: Paramount+
Title: Marshals () - S01E05 - Lost Girls downloads with descriptive audio inserted after commercial break; original MKV also causes black screen in Plex

StreamFab Version / Platform / OS

StreamFab: 7.0.1.9 (26/03/2026)
Platform: Windows x64
OS: Windows 10 Pro 22H2 19045.7058

Region / Country

United States Unspoofed

Provider / Module

Paramount+

Content

Show: Marshals
Episode: S01E05 - Lost Girls

Download settings

Container: MKV
Video codec: H.264 / AVC
Resolution / bitrate: 1920×1080, ~ 3520 kb/s overall file bitrate
Audio profile: AAC
Audio channels: 2.0 stereo
Audio language: English

Issue summary
The downloaded MKV plays normally until a commercial-break transition at about 27:03. At that point, the audio switches to what sounds like descriptive audio. If I seek past the break, normal playback/audio resumes.

On the original MKV:

MPC-HC continues playing, but the audio switches to descriptive audio
Plex usually goes to a black screen at the same point and the descriptive audio takes over

If I rewind to before the break and then skip past it, playback becomes normal again.

Important finding from testing
This does not appear to be a normal wrong-track-selection issue.

The final MKV contains only one audio track:

AAC LC
stereo
English
default track only

I also tested an audio rebuild of the file:

Re-encoding audio fixed the Plex black screen
But the descriptive audio issue remained

That suggests the output file has two defects at the commercial-break boundary:

malformed audio timing/mux continuity in the original file
wrong audio content spliced into the only retained audio stream after the break

Steps to reproduce

Download Marshals () - S01E05 - Lost Girls from Paramount+ with StreamFab using MKV output
Play the resulting file
Go to around 27:03
At the commercial-break boundary:
- MPC-HC continues but audio switches to descriptive audio
- Plex often shows black video and descriptive audio takes over
Seek past the break and playback/audio returns to normal

Additional technical evidence
I checked the final file with MediaInfo / ffprobe / mkvmerge:

only one audio track is present in the MKV
no alternate descriptive audio track is exposed in the container
audio packet timing around the failing region is malformed in the original file
however, after rebuilding audio, the descriptive-audio content still remains, so the wrong audio content appears to have been inserted into the file itself rather than just selected at playback time

All of my logs/etc uploads fail with Could not detect MIME type.

Request
Please investigate the commercial-break handling / segment stitching for this title on Paramount+, because the download appears to switch into descriptive audio at the break and the original output also contains malformed audio timing.

Germania

nsomneeak

It’s like the problem in post 3 here
and there is also a problem with s01e04 here

(I wrote there: and I hear a commercial playing in fast forward
-> actually, it’s also audio description)

Of course, the only workaround is the same (SF <7012)

With or without AD - many new episodes have audio problems at ad-break ..
.. that’s why it’s already listed in “OPEN Problem Reports” here

nsomneeak

Yes, the open problem report is what led me to this thread, after seeing several threads about it over the last several days. More information is always good, right?

AnttDvdFab

nsomneeak More information is always good, right?

I for one really appreciated that much detail from a first time poster! Wish others would do that!