Saturday, May 28, 2016

Roku UK Channel Store - Weekly RoundUp #168





Hi, everyone !!



While we've been enjoying bumper crops of new Roku channels every week throughout the past six weeks, the output during the last seven days has dropped below twenty channels for only the fifth time this year. That said, we have still managed to remain above the weekly average for the entire year during 2015 (which happened to be sixteen, in case you were wondering) and, as always, there is a pretty varied mixture of content on offer from these latest additions to the "Official" Roku UK Channel Store - as featured (to a greater or lesser extent) on all Roku streaming media players here in the United Kingdom - which, let's face it, is never a bad position to be in! :-)


If you happen to follow the companion Twitter Feed: @ukrokuchannels to this blog, then you will have seen me make reference to 'BT Sport' in connection with Roku UK devices. Now, while there is still no mention of an "Official" Roku channel on the horizon from 'BT Sport', this weekend will see the UEFA Champions League Final made available in several FREE-TO-VIEW formats in an attempt to promote 'BT Sport' to a wider audience than their existing subscriber base. Luckily for UK Roku users... one of the platforms 'BT Sport' has chosen for this marketing exercise is 'YouTube' which, as we all know, happens to be one of the 2,700+ channels available on Roku UK devices. So, thanks to 'BT Sport Football' providing a FULL LIVE STREAM of the UEFA Champions League Final via the 'BT Sport' channel on 'YouTube', UK Roku users will be able to view the game (being broadcast by 'BT Sport Europe' at the same time) and get to watch 'BT Sport' streaming on Roku - albeit for a very short period of time. In order to WATCH THE ENTIRE MATCH LIVE ON ROKU you will need to visit the "Official" BT Sport channel on YouTube - VIA THIS LINK - which will begin streaming the event from 6pm BST tonight (Saturday 28th May 2016) with the kick-off taking place at 7.45pm BST and, if enough Roku / NowTV Box users stream the game via 'YouTube' it will show that there is a big demand for streaming 'BT Sport' over and above using 'Airplay' via Apple TV devices! ;-)


If you have any problems streaming via 'YouTube', you can view the other options which 'BT Sport' has provided for watching the UEFA Champions League Final - IN THIS POST - but, if possible, I suggest watching via 'YouTube' on UK Roku devices or NowTV Box to (hopefully) make a better case for an Roku channel for 'BT Sport' in the near future - COME ON 'BT', YOU CAN DO IT! :-) Anyway, back to the 'Weekly RoundUp' of new channels added to UK Roku devices...


Unfortunately, Roku UK users are still subject to restrictions (imposed by Roku) and (bizarrely) remain unable to access the channel descriptions in the web channel store on the Roku (USA) website. That said, the majority of the text from those web store descriptions can also be found within the individual channel descriptions from the built-in "Channel Store" (accessed via "Streaming Channels" from the main menu) on all Roku devices and, together with the associated screenshots (where available), should give you a pretty good indication of what those channels are about. My advice to any UK-based readers of this blog is to ignore the links below (and to the left of) each channel icon shown below and (instead) rely on the link to the right (below each channel icon) which will redirect you to an 'Roku Guide' review for additional details on each channel.


Hopefully Roku will (one day) wake-up to the fact that improving the experience for users in "other" Roku "regions" is just as important as it is for those who buy & use their products in the U.S. and denying access to the Roku website does not help the end-user experience for those of us (outside the USA) who wish to browse the web channel store. Anyway, what Roku doesn't want UK Roku users to see on their website (i.e. the list of new channels) is regularly summarised on this blog in my 'Weekly RoundUp' posts. So, without further ado, here is what we have this week:-







WORLD EQUALITY TELEVISION.......COST: FREE (n.b. may require additional fees) [Roku Guide Review]

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





LIVING BREAD MINISTRIES INTL...................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

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






KRIS 6 NEWS.......................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

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





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

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





YOUTV GERMAN TV LIBRARY........COST: FREE or PAID (Optional) [Roku Guide Review]

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





HILLBILLY HORROR SHOW 2.............COST: FREE (n.b. may require additional fees) [Roku Guide Review]

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





EASY LISTENING................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

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





HEAVENLY FILMS TV.................COST: FREE (n.b. may require additional fees) [Roku Guide Review]

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






HAPPY CAFE RELAXATION CHANNEL..................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

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





TEN TV GOLD...............................................COST: £1.49 (MONTHLY) [Roku Guide Review]

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






NUTHIN BUT BLUEGRASS................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

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





THE SPAIN CHANNEL........................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

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





NEON PARTY GAMES SCREENSAVER..........................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

***FILED UNDER: "SCREENSAVERS" in the Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***






THE ITALY CHANNEL........................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

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





THE GERMANY CHANNEL...............................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

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





THE HUNGARY CHANNEL................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

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






DEAF DAY TV.......................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

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




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Anyhow, like it or not, that is your lot for this week and, whilst it amounts to less than half of the thirty-seven channels which made it into the "Official" Roku USA Channel Store during the same time-frame, it's still better to get 17 NEW CHANNELS than none at all... as I'm sure you'll agree?! The difference (on this occasion) can be put down to a glut of U.S. local news & religious channels which may (or may not) find their way into the "Official" Roku UK Channel Store at a later date! ;-)


Either way, hopefully everyone in the UK with a Roku player managed to find something they like within the seventeen "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. That said, if you didn't find anything to add to your Roku channel selection from the assortment of channels on offer this week, you can always pay us a visit another time when, with any luck, there will be something more to your liking. After all, there's no point installing every channel because, like I've said before... when it comes to adding new channels to your Roku, IT'S YOUR CHOICE  as with all things Roku... THE CHOICE IS ALWAYS YOURS!




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As mentioned previously, 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 earlier posts (as mentioned before) for all the new additions to the "Official" Roku UK Channel Store in each of the ninety-four 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 !!