I an very busy these days so sitting through 6 hour streams to get drops just doesn’t happen. Unfortunately if I do start and stop streams for CTV drops it takes great efforts to get the darn things going again. I am talking joining many streams in an attempt to kick start the drops, clearing cache, logging out and in twitch and on and on. If this is a twitch issue beyond your control, please consider reducing the timeframe for the drops to be earned so we have a chance to finish in a comfortable viewing time!
#6 hr Drops break if you leave
twilit lagoon
hexed abyss
Same issue here, and it is all drops (I get DST drops that behave the same way.) My solution has been: leaving a stream open from a captain that I know will be going live for a while even if I'm not at the computer, and having bttv installed with the autocollect feature. When I get back to the pc, the drops are usually finished. Sometimes they aren't and what you said happens, so when I go to a new stream I make sure I click the drop link at the top, and open a separate drop page that I refresh a couple times to see if it moves. Usually works in under a minute. I never clear cache or log out or switch streams. I just open the drop page and refresh a few times until I see the percentage shift.
ebon swan
This is a Twitch issue, but we can consider reducing the timeframe for drops if this constantly happens to many users.
river lynx
One observation I have made is that I need to talk in the drop stream every 15 minutes to keep the drop active. Also, I can only be in one stream doing drops at a given time, if I am in two streams that are both doing drops, that blocks the drops in both streams even if they are for different games.
twilit lagoon
Was not opening multiple streams or multiple drops that caused the issue. Was closing the stream half way through the drop collection that caused it. Thanks @ebon swan for considering this!
hexed abyss
One observation I have made is that I need to talk in the drop stream every 15 m...
That's weird. I've definitely just left the window on top of my desktop and done other things and found that it collects as long as the video plays and the streamer stays live. 
river lynx
I am finding that it is only counting a quarter of my watching time at most. Usually it counts less than that.
opal moat
I sometimes have this as an issue, but not just SR drops it's any drop.
floral jay
One observation I have made is that I need to talk in the drop stream every 15 m...
“even if they are for different games.”
I think that is intended functionality from Twitch to prevent people from farming drops in the background while watching a different stream.
river lynx
“even if they are for different games.”
I think that is intended functionality f...
If that is the case, then Twitch needs to communicate to captains to NOT have in their Twitch chat messages to leave the tab open with low volume while they watch something else so they can get the drops. Most of the captains I use for drops tell people to idle there for the drop while they watch something else.
floral jay
I think in the past, it has only been a problem when watching two streams with drops for different games enabled. I could have a stream with drops enabled in one muted tab while watching another tab with no drops enabled and it would progress fine.
I have only had one stream open for the last few SR drops, so don’t know myself whether anything has changed. I have had no problems with switching to other SR drop enabled streams.