Roku UK Channel Store - Weekly RoundUp #69

Hi, everyone !!



This week, pretty much all of the Roku-related news updates have concerned themselves with, errrm... UPDATES! So, for those of you who may have missed out on the news, here is an update on those updates (ahem!) starting with the (current) flagship Roku model, in all regions, (perhaps) better known to you and I as the 'Roku 3' which (as per the norm) was the first to benefit. For the record, the 'update' saw the firmware for the award-winning media player incremented from 'Version 5.4 - Build 3340' to the newer 'Version 5.5 - Build 319' with the main objective (apparently) being to reduce loading times for 'Netflix' on the new Roku Streaming Stick (HDMI Version) which has also received an update to the newer 'Version 5.5' software. Some time afterwards, the update must have then been rolled out to additional Roku player models because I noticed my 'Roku 2 XS' happens to now be running 'Version 5.5 - Build 320' when, prior to that, the installed software was 'Version 5.4 - Build 3358' which (if you recall) brought with it the new 'YouTube' channel that was finally rolled out to additional UK Roku models back in April 2014 following the launch of the new Roku Stick. I have yet to research the new version / build numbers (if any) for the 'Roku LT' and the newer 'Roku 1' / 'Roku 2' models but I'm assuming they have / will benefit from an update too. If anyone owns one of those Roku models, here in the UK, perhaps you could take a quick look at the 'About' sub-menu of your Roku 'Settings' menu and leave a comment (below) with the relevant version / build numbers (plus details of the Roku model the info was taken from), or send a tweet to the companion Twitter Feed: @ukrokuchannels for this blog, and I'll try to mention it in a future post as soon as it's been confirmed.


Aside from updates to the software on their streaming media players, Roku have also been tinkering with some of the details provided on the "Official" Roku UK Website and, as part of that process, have finally updated the channel count for the Roku UK Channel Store to 750... well, it would have been a bit much to expect them to provide a more accurate figure given their penchant for falling short of the mark when it comes to such matters! What might have been a good idea, when adjusting the channel count, would have been to correct the "Demand 4" error from that same introductory paragraph, taken from the "Meet Roku" section of the 'WHAT IS ROKU' webpage which surely(?) ought to have been published as "Four On Demand", as in "4oD" (sic), or perhaps (worse still) was intended to have been written as "Demand 5"which won't have impressed the folks at Channel Five! Anyway, here's a screenshot from the Roku website to illustrate the error(s) I'm talking about:-

To make matters worse... there are several discrepancies / inaccuracies, not to mention inconsistencies, between the figures quoted across the various webpages that make up the "Official" Roku UK Website which serve only to further cloud the issue and leave no clear answer as to the number of channels that you can expect to find in the "Official" Roku UK Channel Store. For example, having been told (in the first instance) that there are 750 channels available, when it comes to 'CHOOSE YOUR ROKU' from the Roku UK website, the number of available channels suddenly drops by a third to "500+ entertainment channels" - as illustrated by the following partial screenshot from the "Official" Roku UK Website:-

HINT:- You can CLICK on the above image TO ENLARGE IT for easier viewing !!

Further confusion arises when it comes to take a look at 'WHAT'S ON' in terms of content for the UK models of the various Roku streaming media players and you are hit with a further reduction in terms of  available channels, with the total number now quoted as a mere "450+ channels" as shown here:-

AS ABOVE:- You can CLICK on the above image TO ENLARGE IT for easier viewing !!

With no clear indication from the "Official" Roku UK Website, as to the number of available channels on their streaming media players, it's no wonder that both reviewers and retailers alike are then quoting vastly inaccurate figures within the specifications of their reviews / product pages for UK Roku models. Sadly, this does little to put across the real picture of just how much content is available and simply leaves potential purchasers of Roku products in the UK completely misinformed...


Luckily, help is at hand in the shape of this blog... where you are always assured of having a far more accurate representation of the channels and/or channel count available on UK Roku players than can (currently) be found on any other website (official or not) so, if you ever want to know what the Roku channel count for UK models is, look no further than our 'Roku UK Channel Store - Overview' which is updated EVERY WEEK and means you're never far short of the mark for an exact figure to go by !!


Meanwhile... for those of you who missed my tweet on the subject recently, via the companion Twitter Feed to this blog: @ukrokuchannels, the Roku Streaming Stick (HDMI Version) [Model: 3500EU] is NOW AVAILABLE via eBuyer in the UK and you'll find the product information VIA THIS LINK. As was the case when Amazon UK, closely followed by Tesco, and then Misco first began selling the Roku Stick in recent weeks... Roku, in their now all too familiar (un)timely fashion, have (once more) not seen fit to update the "Where to Buy" information on the "Official" Roku UK website to reflect this. So (as with Amazon, Tesco and Misco before them) I thought I'd mention it here for the benefit of any visitors to this blog who may be considering a purchase through the eBuyer website. Quite why Roku continues to show only three of their 'Recommended Retailers' in the UK as selling their latest product when (in fact) there are now as many as seven (i.e. more than twice that number) from whom anyone can "Buy now" seems rather remiss of them, to say the least. The longer that they fail to update their website & address this issue, the more likely it will seem they have done so in order to steer any potential purchasers towards the company (currently) also responsible for handling all of the sales from the "Official" Roku UK website (namely, MediaStreamingMarket.com)... but, surely it's better to have your product shown as being available in as many retail outlets as possible?! So, why not reflect that?!!


To illustrate my point, here's a comparison between the list of retailers from whom Roku claims the new Roku Streaming Stick (HDMI Version) [Model: 3500EU] is currently available (on the left) and my own amended list showing all of the Roku 'Recommended Retailers' in the UK that (currently) stock it (complete with "Buy now" icons) positioned to the right:-

    ROKU LIST                  AMENDED LIST

HINT:- You can CLICK on the above images TO ENLARGE THEM for easier viewing !!

If anyone is looking to purchase a new Roku Streaming Stick (HDMI Version) [Model: 3500EU] in the UK, here are some links to the relevant product pages for each of the Roku 'Recommended Retailers' in the UK that (currently) stock it. Effectively, these are the "missing links" which should (by now) have been added to the "Official" Roku UK Website... each one associated with a "Buy now" icon beside the relevant Roku 'Recommended Retailer' that stocks the streaming media player:-



AMAZON.............................................................BUY NOW

BOX.CO.UK.........................................................BUY NOW

CURRYS...............................................................BUY NOW

eBUYER................................................................BUY NOW

MEDIA STREAMING MARKET..................................BUY NOW

MISCO...................................................................BUY NOW

TESCO DIRECT...................................................BUY NOW



Anyway, let's now press on with the details for the current 'Weekly RoundUp' of NEW ADDITIONS to the "Official" Roku UK Channel Store. This time, there are SEVENTEEN NEW CHANNELS which have been added during the past seven days. These latest additions to the channel line-up have provided us with FRESH CONTENT in the Film & TV, Games, Internet TV, Food, Special Interest, plus Religion & Spirituality genres (i.e. categories).

In keeping with previous installments from the 'Weekly RoundUp' series, details of these new channels have all been listed below, together with links to obtain further information {by clicking on the channel name(s) beneath the respective channel icon(s) as pictured} and to read a 'Roku Guide' review with an independent (slightly more expansive) assessment of each one:-

KIM CLEMENT TV............................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

QUEST COMMUNITY CHURCH.....................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

THE REAL ESTATE CHANNEL......................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

FUN LITTLE MOVIES.......................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

MALL...................................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

SCI-FI CLASSIC TV SHOWS....COST: £0.69 (ONE-OFF PAYMENT) [Roku Guide Review]

MAZES.................................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

MAZES PLUS.............................COST: £0.69 (ONE-OFF PAYMENT) [Roku Guide Review]

BALLISTIC BBQ................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

GAMESMART....................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

BBQ n GRILL......................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

BAKING [by iFood.TV]......................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

KOREAN FOOD [by iFood.TV].........................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

CAKE [by iFood.TV]...........................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

COSMETICS REVIEWS by Fawesome.TV.......................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

HOME CHANNEL..............................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

WEEDTV.............................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

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Anyway, like it or not, that is your lot for this week and, whilst it doesn't quite the match-up to the nineteen channels which made it into the "Official" Roku USA Channel Store during the same time-frame, I always think it's better to have SOME NEW CHOICES than none at all, don't you ?!!

Still, hopefully everyone in the UK with a Roku player managed to find something they like within the seventeen channels outlined above. If not, then you'll just have to pay us a visit another time when, with any luck, there will be something more to your liking. Afterall, there's no point installing every channel because, as I've said before, when it comes to adding new channels to your Roku player, IT'S YOUR CHOICE and, as with all things Roku... THE CHOICE IS ALWAYS YOURS !!

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In the meantime, for my last forty-seven 'Weekly RoundUp' posts, I have been suggesting we spare a thought for all the poor folk who handed over their hard-earned cash for one of those NowTV Boxes [Powered by Sky] which, as I keep saying, have (so far) totally failed to live up to their full potential. Likewise, the original promise from NowTV of "more apps being continually added", is yet to be adhered to, since there have been ONLY THREE NEW CHANNELS ADDED to the Roku Channel Store on the NowTV Box SINCE THE PRODUCT LAUNCHED and two of those first appeared just three weeks ago !!  Of course, getting two new channels from the so-called "developers" at NowTV in one go was always likely to be no more than a "flash in the pan" and (perhaps) unsurprisingly, since then, it's been back to "business as usual" as far as (not) adding any new channels to the (already severely reduced) Roku Channel Store on the NowTV Box is concerned. However, while they appear to be running on empty (yet again) in terms of inspiration for new channels, I don't think that they quite grasped what the bosses at NowTV meant when they said they needed to "fuel" some new ideas:-

HINT: Click on the above image to ENLARGE IT for easier viewing !!

PHOTO SOURCE: en.wikipedia.org

Consequently, it's likely to be of no surprise to any of you that (as with EVERY WEEK BAR TWO since launch) there has (yet again) been literally NO ACTION in terms of NEW ADDITIONS to the Roku Channel Store selection on the NowTV Box. What this means is that, over the course of the past week, NowTV have (again) produced a (NOT SO) GRAND TOTAL of ZERO NEW CHANNELS to add to their (already SEVERELY REDUCED) version of the Roku Channel Store as included on their NowTV Box. Meanwhile, the "Official" Roku Channel Store that features on all UK Roku players has added a further SEVENTEEN EXTRA CHANNELS during that same period of time. To keep things firmly in perspective, in the forty-nine weeks since the launch of the NowTV Box, there has been a total of FIVE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY EXTRA CHANNELS added to the Roku Channel Store on UK Roku players, as compared with THREE EXTRA CHANNELS being added to the Roku Channel Store on the NowTV Box. That, surely, must tell you something ?!!!

Like I've said in previous weeks, it seems to be a case of one step forward and two steps back when it comes to the meagre selection of channels available in the Roku Channel Store which features on the streaming media player from NowTV. To illustrate my point... from the moment that the NowTV Box was launched, they have managed to completely lose 'WatchIndia' and 'USTV Now', with '4oD', 'ITV Player' and 'BBC Sport' being the only channels added to the Roku Channel Store on the NowTV Box since it launched !! Then, two months back, came the turn for '4oD' to up-sticks and leave it's original home in the "Film & TV" category to hide-out in the "Most Popular" channels, presumably (like 'Flixster' before it) preferring the (relative) obscurity of a twenty-five channel lineup to the company of just six other channels with which it had shared the genre since 'Flixster' went into hiding. Perhaps worse still was the loss of 'MLB.TV' from the "News, Weather, Sport" category which, unless you added it previously (in which case you'll find it under 'My Channels' in the menu), you will not (currently) be able to add to the channel selection on your NowTV Box. In fact, as far as the channel selection on the NowTV Box goes, the best I can say is that at least the 'Havoc Television' and 'VEVO' channels (which had both been missing an "official" Roku Channel Store category on the NowTV Box for a very long time) have now managed to stay put for the past few months, having found their way back into the 'Music' genre (i.e. category) of the Roku Channel Store on the NowTV Box. Likewise... the other channel lacking an "official" Roku Channel Store category on the NowTV Box for quite some time, namely 'HooplaKidz Rhymes', remains part of "Internet TV".

Even with the two recent channel additions, there are still just 48 CHANNELS to be found in the NowTV Box version of the Roku Channel Store PLUS the 'NOW TV', 'Sky News' and 'Sky Store' channels which (unfortunately) means the overall total remains at only fifty-one channels (just one more than there was when the product was launched towards the end of July 2013). Plus, let's not forget, those last three are only there by default and not included with the apps (i.e. channels) in the Roku Channel Store on the NowTV Box. If we then leave aside the "Most Popular" channels and any additional ones listed in "My Channels" (as I do with my channel count for the Roku player), when it comes to the actual Roku Channel Store categories on the NowTV Box, there remains no more than a paltry 46 channels in total compared with 1,075+ in the channel store on UK Roku players !!!

Bearing this in mind... whilst the NowTV Box won't exactly leave you out-of-pocket, if you are after a streaming media player which can genuinely boast of "more apps being continually added" and is a lot less likely to leave you wanting by the time the summer holiday period begins, then I strongly advise you to do yourselves a BIG FAVOUR and spend the extra twenty quid or so to get a genuine original Roku LT streaming media player that will allow you to ACCESS NETFLIX plus many other film & tv channels (incl. NowTV) as well as having both the 'Plex' and 'YouTube' channels readily available via the channel store and will give you more than 1,025 EXTRA CHANNELS TO CHOOSE FROM when compared with the selection (currently) found on a NowTV Box.

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Still, whether you happen to own a Roku player, a NowTV Box, OR BOTH, as I do... be sure to come back in seven days' time for my next 'Weekly RoundUp' and, if you can't wait that long, remember you can always keep up with all the UK Roku action (as it happens) throughout the coming week, by following the companion Twitter Feed: @ukrokuchannels where up-to-the-minute info on all things Roku-related (here in the UK) is posted on a daily basis (well, almost).

Until the next time, then...

That's all folks !!