(Apple watch serie 8 GPS+celullar) Podcast App on Apple Watch stops playing

I'm having an issue where I start playing a podcast from my Apple Watch (with or without my iPhone nearby) and it plays for anywhere 10-15-20 seconds and then stops.

If I press the play button again, it will resume for another minute or so, but never longer than that.

This also happens with episodes that were previously downloaded.

The same thing happens with the TuneIn radio app. In this case, it’s even worse because sometimes the audio doesn’t even start playing.

I would prefer not to have the solution involve switching to another alternative app.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance. Regards.