Roku UK Channel Store - Weekly RoundUp #123

Hi, everyone !!



If asked to pick just one UK Roku-related event, from the last seven days, which I deem most worthy of a SPECIAL MENTION, on account of providing an LANDMARK MOMENT for the streaming media player on these shores, it would be the HUGE ACHIEVEMENT of Roku channel developers (combined) so there are NOW 1,800+ "PUBLIC" CHANNELS IN THE ROKU UK STORE from the humble beginnings of just forty (or so) channels when Roku devices were first sold to UK buyers around two and a half years ago. Back then... there was no 'NowTV' or 'Sky Store' channel available and only 'BBC iPlayer' of the four main UK CatchUpTV services! Ironically, that is (currently) the one CatchUpTV channel on Roku devices which is plagued with issues causing it to display incorrectly on Roku-connected television screens in UK - let's hope BBC and Roku can come up with a fix soon!


On a brighter note... another UK Roku owner - Tim Walker [Twitter Feed: @tawalker] - was asking me (via Twitter) whether there was an Roku screensaver capable of displaying UK weather information. In so far as I was aware, "Weather Underground" was the only Roku channel which was customisable for UK weather forecasts but (currently) that does not feature an screensaver of any description. As the name suggests... "Weather4us" offers US-only weather data and, despite having an screensaver built-in, the information is of little use (on a day-to-day basis) for those in need of weather forecasts in the UK. The only suggestion I could come up with was to ask one of the developers with US-based weather info already displayed on their Roku screensaver(s) to edit their channel(s) and provide UK weather data for Roku UK users. What I did not expect was for one of those developers to have already implemented this without my knowing. So, if any UK Roku users are looking to add UK-specific weather info via an Roku screensaver, you need only add one of the many channels from 'The Endless' - e.g. "Aquarium Screensaver", "Clever Clocks Screensaver", "Word Clock Screensaver", "Nixie Clock Screensaver", "Flip Clock Screensaver", etc, etc. and then adjust the settings to display UK-specific weather information when the screensaver is active! ;-)


Returning to the "dark" side for a moment, I was gutted to learn that a new movie streaming service for horror fans (of which I am one) has developed an US-only Roku channel but have yet to expand their service to other countries. Recently touted as "The Netflix of Horror" the service, called "Shudder", hopes to expand globally over time which - if it comes to the UK - will mean that any Roku "region" falling into those expansion plans could also benefit from getting the Roku channel as & when the service is launched there. In the meantime, for UK Roku users who share my love of the genre, there was an interesting article published by "Modern Horrors" extolling the virtues of the "Shudder" service and suggesting "10 Reasons You Might Want To Give Shudder A Try"- FIND IT HERE ONLINE - so you can decide (ahead of time) whether this looks like something you'd be interested in. As far as the Roku channel goes, here is a look at the channel icon for "Shudder" plus links to the 'Roku Guide' review and the description from the "Official" Roku USA Channel Store:-

SHUDDER.....................COST: $4.99 (MONTHLY) / $49.99 (ANNUAL) [Roku Guide Review]

!!! PLEASE NOTE:- THE ROKU "SHUDDER" CHANNEL IS (CURRENTLY) U.S. ONLY !!!


If you like your horror, and want to see "Shudder" [Twitter Feed: @Shudder] in the UK, then be sure to contact Shudder Support [Twitter Feed: @ShudderSupport] and let them know you'd like to add their Roku channel to your UK Roku device just as soon as they can get the service to this country. Further information, plus links to additional points of contact can be found on the "Official" website for the "Shudder" streaming service, VIA THIS LINK, for anyone interested in knowing more. Like I say, they do plan to take "Shudder" worldwide eventually - as evidenced by THIS RESPONSE from their FAQ - so hopefully it's only a matter of time... but, a few more "prompts" wouldn't do any harm! ;-)

Meanwhile, as with last week, there's plenty of varied new channel choices this time around, including TWO MORE FREE GAMES for UK Roku owners who enjoy puzzle-type games of one form or another. Sadly one of these games is not featured in the channel store on my 'Roku 2 XS' devices, although it may still be compatible with the newer 'Roku 2' [Model 4205EU] released earlier this year. If you own that new Roku model (or another UK Roku device offering the game - listed below) then please leave a comment at the end of this post and I'll update the listing accordingly. ;-)


Speaking of which... when it comes to the listings for this particular 'Weekly RoundUp' post, you'll notice there has been a slight change to the layout! Given that we've reached #123 in this series of posts, the phrase "It's as easy as 1-2-3" came to mind... at which point, I thought about what I could do to make life easier for you to add new Roku channels / content using the information provided here. Recent changes to the available genres (i.e. categories) in the "Official" Roku UK Channel Store have seen the channels spread over a much wider range of subjects. So, I've decided to start providing details for exactly which category each of the listed channels can be found under at the time of release. These genres may (of course) change over time for any given channel and i do not intend to update these 'Weekly RoundUp' posts if they do. Instead, these listings will provide a permanent record of where each channel started out in the "Official" Roku UK Channel Store and I will rely on updates to my individual channel store category listings for any subsequent changes that may occur. Hopefully this extra info will prove useful, especially once channels are removed from the "New" category one month after their release date, in enabling UK Roku users to seek out individual channels on their device(s). Do let me know (in the comments) of any additional details you may like to see featured in these posts and whether (or not) you like the "new look" listings for my 'Weekly RoundUp' posts going forward. 

Anyway, before I proceed with listing the current crop of new channels (plus providing links to their associated reviews) for this particular 'Weekly RoundUp'... a brief reminder that, whilst I had hoped I'd be able to catch-up on the missing Roku-related news from this blog in recent weeks, all the extra work I've been burdened with of late means it remains unlikely that I'll be fully caught-up anytime soon. Until I do find the time... my one saving grace is that (as mentioned previously) I have somehow managed to remain up-to-date with all the latest additions to the "New" category of the "Official" Roku UK Channel Store and will endeavour to flesh-out what's missing ASAP! Admittedly, there are quite a few articles that I need to catch up on but, rather than post links for individual weeks, I'll simply refer you back to my "Roku UK Channel Store - Weekly RoundUp #78", which contains all of the pertinent information you might need when researching back over the items in question. Again, I'm sorry this has dragged-on (far) longer than anticipated, and apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused you, but (all being well) things will be back up to speed soon!

For now... all I can offer you is a summary of the latest additions to the "Official" Roku UK Channel Store from the past seven days. As with my other recent posts, you can expect any additional Roku-related news from the past week, along with details of any changes to the channel selection found on NowTV Boxes, to be added at some point in the near future. As for "mending" all of the "broken" links from previous 'Weekly RoundUp' posts, I still can't put a time-scale on how long that is going to take but (like I said before) if you "copy" the existing link(s) and change the "http" prefix to "https", as well as removing the "forward slash" between 'channels' and '#!details', so that "channels#/!details" becomes "channels#!details" in each weblink, you should find that they will all work for you and redirect to the new-look version of each individual channel description. As with the last thirty-six 'Weekly RoundUp' posts, every link from this week (plus all future posts) will use the new format, so it's only those from 'Weekly RoundUp #1' up as far as 'Weekly RoundUp #86' which you'll have to amend... at least, until I can edit/repair the links for you !!

Still, with all the "missing" Roku-related news (and links) yet to follow, let's now press on with the current 'Weekly RoundUp' of NEW ADDITIONS to the "Official" Roku UK Channel Store. This time there are FOURTEEN NEW CHANNELS which have been added during the preceding seven day period. These latest additions provided FRESH CONTENT in the Movies & TV, Games, Fitness, plus Kids & Family genres as well as the News & Weather, Music, Web Video, Religious, and Special Interest categories. Specifically... this means there's no less than THREE EXTRA CHANNELS in both the "News & Weather" and "Religious" categories, plus TWO EXTRA CHANNELS in the "Games" genre, in addition to there being ONE EXTRA CHANNEL in each of the "Movies & TV", "Fitness", "Kids & Family", "Music", "Web Video", plus "Special Interest" genres among the new choices which have been added to the Roku UK channel selection during this past week. 

In keeping with previous installments from the 'Weekly RoundUp' series, details of these new channels have 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:-

CELEB TV...............................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

***FILED UNDER: "WEB VIDEO" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***

PLEASE NOTE:- That, due to the fact this 'CelebTV' channel was previously released via the "Official" Roku USA Channel Store sometime in late April / early May 2014, you will not find it amongst the channels listed in the "New" category of the"Official" Roku UK Channel Store - where you would normally expect to find all of the latest additions to the Roku UK channel lineup - and instead, as stated above, you will have to look to the "Web Video" category to locate it.

HELPFUL HINT:- Once you have entered the "Web Video" category of the channel store, simply PRESS THE "FWD SCAN" OR "REV SCAN" BUTTON THREE TO FIVE TIMES on your Roku remote TO "FAST SCROLL" TO WHERE 'CELEB TV' IS LOCATED in the list of Roku channels for that category. As of the date of this post, on my Roku devices, it is listed at number 43 of 75 channels in the genre. Of course, it's precise position in the list may change in future but, for now, that should help you find it more quickly than you may have otherwise.

ALSO:- You will notice, if you read the 'Roku Guide' review, that the 'CelebTV' channel was filed under "News & Weather" when originally launched via the "Official" Roku USA Channel Store and there was a fee of $1.99 per month associated with viewing any content. However... I am happy to inform you that the 'CelebTV' channel is (currently) both FREE-TO-ADD and FREE-TO-VIEW when installed on UK Roku devices so, if you like the sound of it, go ahead and watch it - for free!

TESTIMONY WITH JENSINE BARD..................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

***FILED UNDER: "RELIGIOUS" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***

MY CHURCH TUBE..............................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

***FILED UNDER: "RELIGIOUS" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***

KALEIDOSCOPE KIDS TV..................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

***FILED UNDER: "KIDS & FAMILY" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***

GYMRA FITNESS..................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

***FILED UNDER: "FITNESS" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***

BLAB-TV................................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

***FILED UNDER: "SPECIAL INTEREST" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***

THE BAT PLAYER................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

***FILED UNDER: "MUSIC" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***

CBS46 NEWS..........................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

***FILED UNDER: "NEWS & WEATHER" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***

WSB-TV CHANNEL 2 ACTION NEWS..............................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

***FILED UNDER: "NEWS & WEATHER" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***

KOMO NEWS.........................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

***FILED UNDER: "NEWS & WEATHER" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***

B-MOVIE TV..........................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

***FILED UNDER: "MOVIES & TV" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***

PROPHECY WATCHERS CHANNEL.................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

***FILED UNDER: "RELIGIOUS" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***

WORLD FAMOUS PLACES PUZZLE [Roku 3 ONLY]......COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

***FILED UNDER: "GAMES" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***

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

***FILED UNDER: "GAMES" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***

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Anyhow, like it or not, that is your lot for this week and, whilst it amounts to just two-thirds of the twenty-one channels which made it into the "Official" Roku USA Channel Store during the same time-frame, it's better to have a choice of 14 NEW CHANNELS than none at all, as I'm sure you'll agree?!

Meanwhile... hopefully everyone in the UK with a Roku player managed to find something they like within the fourteen "public" channels outlined above... or else from the "private" channels, whose access codes were "gifted" to you via the companion Twitter Feed to this blog, at various points throughout the last seven days. Even so, if you didn't find anything to add to your Roku channel selection from the assortment of channels on offer this week, 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 like I say... when it comes to adding new channels to your Roku, IT'S YOUR CHOICE and, as with all things Roku... THE CHOICE IS ALWAYS YOURS !!

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As mentioned earlier in this post, you can expect my usual summary of all the goings-on (or not) in the (severely restricted) Roku Channel Store that features on NowTV Boxes to follow in the near future. Meanwhile, whether you happen to own a Roku player, a NowTV Box, OR BOTH, as I do... be sure to check my previous posts (as mentioned above) for all the new additions to the "Official" Roku UK Channel Store in each of the fifty preceding weeks and then come back again in seven days' time for my next 'Weekly RoundUp'. However, 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 !!