I was watching a show today on the DVR and they had some subtitles that flashed up on the bottom of the screen that I could not read fast enough. So I reround and hit pause when the subtitles came up. Unfortunately the status bar when i pressed pause blocks the subtitles. As in presents itself on top of them, do I can’t read them. Any suggestions?
You didn't specify what device you're running Channels on.
To hide the timeline you can click UP on Android TV, or tap the Siri remote for Apple TV.
I have an Apple TV 4th gen. I tried your solution and was gettin frustrated until I reread your reply and noticed you said tap not click 
Thanks again love the product