diff --git a/homeassistant/components/philips_js/media_player.py b/homeassistant/components/philips_js/media_player.py
index d9ea06c2f2c..684dafbc750 100644
--- a/homeassistant/components/philips_js/media_player.py
+++ b/homeassistant/components/philips_js/media_player.py
@@ -210,7 +210,7 @@ class PhilipsTVMediaPlayer(
     async def async_media_play_pause(self) -> None:
         """Send pause command to media player."""
         if self._tv.quirk_playpause_spacebar:
-            await self._tv.sendUnicode(" ")
+            await self._tv.sendKey("Confirm")
         else:
             await self._tv.sendKey("PlayPause")
         await self._async_update_soon()
@@ -509,6 +509,8 @@ class PhilipsTVMediaPlayer(
             self._media_title = self._sources.get(self._tv.source_id)
             self._media_channel = None
 
+        self._attr_assumed_state = True
+
     @callback
     def _handle_coordinator_update(self) -> None:
         """Handle updated data from the coordinator."""