Apple Watch will not control podcasts any longer. It will control but I have to constantly open the App

Apple Watch Series 8, latest update (9.4). iPhone 14 Pro, latest update (16.4.1). When I start Podcasts on iPhone I have to manually open the app on the watch to control it. After it times out and goes back to the home screen, it doesn't come back to Podcast control when I lift my arm so I have to again manually open the Podcast app. (It used to go automatically back to Podcasts when I raised my arm. I've shut down both the watch and phone several times and it doesn't change.