Hi, everyone !!
As was the case last week... 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 again been blessed with an above-average crop of new channel additions to occupy our time. You will however notice, when you browse through the current list, that there are a couple of channels for which no 'Roku Guide' review was published. In the case of "Chinese Movie" at the very end of the list... the (most likely) reason for this is that, being more of a rebranding / facelift exercise, it was missed by the folks at 'Roku Guide' and consequently there is (currently) no "active" link to a corresponding review. The other channel not to get an 'Roku Guide' review published this week comes right at the very top of my list... and, for some reason, the "Vermont Television Network" channel did not feature in the "New" category of the Roku (USA) Web Channel Store at all. Instead, details only came to light via the channel description found in the "Special Interest" genre, which is (no doubt) why it was missed by 'Roku Guide' and, like the other channel, has no published review for me to link to at this time.
Needless to say, you can expect the "missing" reviews to be added to this post once they do become available. Meanwhile, it is worth noting that these channels are already available to Roku owners in the USA (as evidenced by their inclusion in the Roku web channel store) and readers of this blog from the United States can follow the links provided below (and to the left of) these, plus each and every other channel icon listed here, to view their respective channel descriptions... until such a time as the "missing" reviews do 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 will redirect you to an 'Roku Guide' review for additional details on each channel. As it stands, the links below (and to the left of) each channel icon are (currently) only of use to readers of this blog from the USA who, on clicking those links, will be redirected to the respective channel description from the Roku Web Channel Store. This means Roku users from the other "supported" regions of the world (i.e. Ireland, Canada, France and Mexico) are, like those of us in the UK, unable to browse the Roku Web Channel Store - which for now remains an exclusive privilege of Roku users in the USA. :-(
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:-
VERMONT TELEVISION NETWORK...............................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "SPECIAL INTEREST" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***
INC FAMILY GOLD.......................................COST: £0.69 (MONTHLY) [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "FILM & TV" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
PPS REPORT.........................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "RELIGIOUS" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
THE MENTOR CHANNEL..................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "NEWS & WEATHER" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***
THE RETRO CHANNEL......................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "FILM & TV" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
YANG STYLE TAI CHI FOR HEALTH.........COST: £5.49 (MONTHLY) [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "FITNESS" in the Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
STREAM NOW PRO....................................COST: £7.99 (ANNUALLY) [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "FILM & TV" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
CONFRONTING THE DEVIL..............................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "RELIGIOUS" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
STREAMING TECHNOLOGY CHANNEL.........................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "SPECIAL INTEREST" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***
247 COMEDY..................COST: FREE (n.b. may require additional fees) [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "COMEDY" in the Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
JADOO LITE.........................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "FILM & TV" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
LOVE SONGS.......................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "MUSIC" in the Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
L'ÉPÉE LÉGENDAIRE.........................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "GAMES" in the Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
HONKY TONK.....................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "MUSIC" in the Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
YOU BET YOUR LIFE CHANNEL.....................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "FILM & TV" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
BIG HITS...............................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "MUSIC" in the Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
INFINITE PROGRAMMING CHANNEL...........................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "FILM & TV" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
HAPPINESS BOMB..............................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "FILM & TV" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
MASSIVE VYBZ..................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "MUSIC" in the Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
LEARN ARABIC...........................COST: £0.69 (ONE-OFF PAYMENT) [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "INTERNATIONAL" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***
CELTIC RELAXATION CHANNEL....................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "LIFESTYLE" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
DIVINE WORD MINISTRIES TV......................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "RELIGIOUS" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
PFA MEDIA SUBSCRIPTION................COST: FREE (n.b. may require additional fees) [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "FILM & TV" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
WASHINGTON STATE [by TripSmart.TV]..........................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "TRAVEL" in the Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
GRANT THOMPSON...........................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "SCI & TECH" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
CALVARY CHAPEL PEARL HARBOR..............................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "RELIGIOUS" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
RNV TV............................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "RELIGIOUS" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
INC GOLD......................................................COST: £1.49 (MONTHLY) [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "FILM & TV" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
CHINESE MOVIE...........................................COST: £7.49 (MONTHLY) [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "FILM & TV" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
PLEASE NOTE:- That 'Chinese Movie' appears to be a rebranded version of an earlier release, known as 'Chinese Variety', 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 every "public" channel) happens to be the same for 'Chinese Movie' (see link above) as it was for the previous incarnation as 'Chinese Variety' which was featured in my 'Roku UK Channel Store - Weekly RoundUp #166' from a few weeks back. Both of the links include ".../details/89807/..." but you will find that there is now no 'Chinese Variety' to be found in the "Official" Roku Channel Store, where now only the 'Chinese Movie' channel exists with that unique number applied to the web channel store URL for the "rebranded" or "new look" version.
ALSO:- While there is a published 'Roku Guide' review for the 'Chinese Variety' channel - 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 'Chinese Movie' channel and I would (therefore) suggest anyone interested in finding out more about this "new look" channel should (instead) read the previously published 'Roku Guide' review for the 'Chinese Variety' channel (see link above) which, in so far as I can tell, remains reasonably accurate in terms of being an overview for this 'Chinese Movie' channel as it did for 'Chinese Variety' before it! ;-)
ALSO:- While there is a published 'Roku Guide' review for the 'Chinese Variety' channel - 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 'Chinese Movie' channel and I would (therefore) suggest anyone interested in finding out more about this "new look" channel should (instead) read the previously published 'Roku Guide' review for the 'Chinese Variety' channel (see link above) which, in so far as I can tell, remains reasonably accurate in terms of being an overview for this 'Chinese Movie' channel as it did for 'Chinese Variety' before it! ;-)