Saturday, May 21, 2016

Roku UK Channel Store - Weekly RoundUp #167





Hi, everyone !!



Another "Streaming Day" has come and gone during the last week, with Friday 20th May 2016 being the eighth anniversary of the day that the first Roku media player was launched (in the USA) with the initial purpose of streaming "Netflix" content to American televisions. Of course... it's barely more than four years since Roku devices (officially) found their way into retail outlets, here in the UK, but (even so) we've still come a long way from the forty channels that were originally available to UK Roku users when early-adopters got their first look at the "Official" Roku UK Channel Store. Since then, there have been MORE THAN 2,500+ CHANNELS ADDED and, I'm happy to report that, this week has seen the number of apps available via the "Official" Roku UK Channel Store on 'Roku 3' devices reach the astounding total of 2,748 channels - all of which are listed on this blog! :-)


Compare that with the vastly inferior sum of only fifty-three apps available to owners of 'NowTV' devices which (let's not forget) started-out with fifty channels at launch (in July 2013) and you begin to understand why 'NowTV' removed "with more being added all the time" from the text promoting their channel highlights on the 'NowTV' website. With all of the 'NowTV' content being available on UK Roku devices, PLUS the choice of streaming additional content from EITHER 'Netflix UK' OR 'Amazon Video UK' AND WITH 2,600+ EXTRA CHANNELS TO CHOOSE FROM... it's a wonder anybody still opts for the "Roku Powered" devices from 'NowTV' over own-brand products by Roku here in the UK... especially when the former are so severely restricted and the latter offer more and more content (almost) every week. Still, you pay your money and take your choice... it's just that, with genuine UK Roku-branded devices, the choice is far wider than you'll get from 'NowTV'! ;-)


Other than that, as has been the case for the past few weeks... there hasn't been much, in terms of Roku-related news, during the past seven days - since my last 'Weekly RoundUp' post was published - but, thankfully, we have once more been blessed with an above-average crop of new channel additions to occupy our time. Again, you will notice there is one channel which did not get a published 'Roku Guide' review. The (most likely) reason for this is that it was not actually added to the "New" category of the "Official" Roku USA Channel Store and, instead, was made available solely via the "Web Video" genre. Consequently, it was missed by the folks over at 'Roku Guide' and there is (currently) no "active" link to a corresponding 'Roku Guide' review.


Needless to say, you can expect the "missing" review to be added to this post once it does become available. Meanwhile, it is worth noting that this channel is already available to Roku owners in the USA (as evidenced by it's inclusion in the Roku web channel store) and readers of this blog from the United States can follow the link provided below (and to the left of) this, plus each and every other channel icon listed here, to view the respective channel description... until such a time as the anticipated review does get published via the 'Roku Guide' website.


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 (where available) 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, ignoring the "missing" link for now, here is what we have this week:-







X-RAY RADIO......................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

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






RELAX MY DOG..................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

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






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

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






FAITH BROADCASTING NETWORK................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

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






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

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






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

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

PLEASE NOTE:- That this 'Yahoo' channel appears to be a rebranded version of an earlier release, known as 'Yahoo Screen', whereby the channel name (together with the associated channel icon) and various other aspects of the channel have all been changed for this "new look" version. My assumption for this is based on the fact that the unique number attributed to each new Roku channel (and featured in the web channel store URL for each and every "public" channel) is the same for this 'Yahoo' channel (see link above) as it was for the previous incarnation as 'Yahoo Screen' which, while featured in the "Official" Roku USA Channel Store, was not available to UK Roku users. Both links include ".../details/39315/..." but you will find that there is now no 'Yahoo Screen' to be found in the "Official" Roku USA Channel Store, where only the 'Yahoo' channel exists with that unique number now applied to the web channel store URL for the "rebranded" or "new look" version.

ALSO:- While there is a published 'Roku Guide' review for 'Yahoo Screen' - FOUND HERE - this "rebranded" version appears to have escaped their notice (as mentioned above) so, unfortunately, there is (currently) no active link to an 'Roku Guide' review specific to the rebranded 'Yahoo' channel and I would (therefore) suggest anyone interested in finding out more about this "new look" channel should simply install it (especially since it's FREE-TO-ADD on Roku devices) and find out for themselves. Other than that, you could always read the previously published 'Roku Guide' review for the 'Yahoo Screen' channel (see link above) which, in so far as I can tell, remains reasonably accurate in terms of being an overview for this 'Yahoo' channel as it did for 'Yahoo Screen' before it! ;-)







MINESWEEPER DELUXE...................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

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






CLASSIC CAR TV.................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

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






MUSICA EXCLUSIVA STREAMS......................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

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






WILDLIFE VIRAL TV..........................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

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






DOG VIRAL VIDEOS...........................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

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






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

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






VIRAL CLIPS CHANNEL....................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

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






FUNNY BABY VIDEOS.......................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

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






ANGELS FROM THE ATTIC...............................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

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






IN FASHION..........................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

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






THE GUMMY BEAR............................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

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






BASHO AND FRIENDS.......................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

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






GUITAR LESSONS WITH ERICH ANDREAS....................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

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






FUN CRAFTS [by HappyKids.TV].......................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

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






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

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






VIRAL HUMOR TV..............................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

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






PET VIRAL VIDEOS............................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

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






AUTO FAILS TV...................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

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






UNIVERSE NETWORK TELEVISION................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

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






SAFE TV CHANNEL............................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

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






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

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






NKT.tv........................COST: FREE (n.b. may require additional fees) [Roku Guide Review]

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






CAT RELAXATION CHANNEL...........................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

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






ZPTV ENTERTAINMENT.....................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

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






CROSSBOW NATION...........................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

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






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

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






FOOD TRUCK TV.................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

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






CHIP INGRAM BIBLE STUDIES...........COST: FREE (n.b. may require additional fees) [Roku Guide Review]

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






HEART ALCHEMY YOGA............................COST: £4.99 (MONTHLY) [Roku Guide Review]

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






MINISTERIO TV NETWORK..............................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]

***FILED UNDER: "RELIGIOUS" 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 only amounts to eighty per cent of the forty-five channels which made it into the "Official" Roku USA Channel Store during the same time-frame, it's still better to get 36 NEW CHANNELS than none at all... as I'm sure you'll agree?!


Either way, hopefully everyone in the UK with a Roku player managed to find something they like within the thirty-six "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!




*********************************************



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-three 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 !!





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