Hi, everyone !!
Unlike the past few weeks... there has (at least) been some Roku-specific news published, during the last seven days - even if it did (once again) exclude Roku UK users and those from "other" Roku regions, outside the United States - but, let's face it, that does seem to have become a bit of a trend with Roku... as far as all non US-based users are concerned. Anyway, the first announcement came our way on Tuesday 21st June, courtesy of a news article, on the "Official" Roku Stream Blog by Ziba Kaboli-Gerbrands (Director of Content Acquisition for Roku in the USA). This broke the news that "PlayStation Vue" had finally come to the "Official" Roku USA Channel Store after months of speculation (and frustration) on the part of Roku users in the United States. Nothing has been said as to whether (or not) this subscription service from Sony will come to the UK... but, after the withdrawal of 'Crackle' from the UK market, it would be a welcome addition for streamers in the United Kingdom and further boost our OTT options, as well as stimulate competition among the UK providers of such services. That said, I couldn't help but feel that Sony over-priced the various monthly plans for their "PlayStation Vue" service in the U.S. and, unless they start to offer more for the fees they are charging, I can't see too many "cord-cutters" (most of whom are dropping cable to try & save money) willing to splash out for this service. To illustrate my point, here's what Sony are charging U.S. subscribers for each of the "PlayStation Vue" monthly plans:-
- ACCESS PLAN: 55+ channels, incl. live television, movies and sports for $29.99 per month ($39.99 in cities with live local broadcast stations**)
- CORE PLAN: 70+ channels, incl. everything from the 'Access Plan' plus live national and regional sports networks for $34.99 per month ($44.99 in cities with live local stations**)
- ELITE PLAN: 100+ channels, incl. everything from the 'Core Plan' plus top movie and entertainment channels for $44.99 per month ($54.99 in cities with live local stations**)
** PLEASE NOTE:- That cities with live local broadcast stations under the PlayStation Vue plans are currently: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, San Francisco, and Miami **
So... as a native New Yorker (for example) you are looking at (essentially) forty bucks per month for the most basic 'Access Plan' which, when compared with the 'Sling TV' basic packages available for only twenty dollars per month - FURTHER DETAILS HERE - seems to be more akin to paying cable fees for the Sony service and (as such) I don't think it's competitively priced enough by comparison.
The second announcement to come our way from Roku, since my last 'Weekly RoundUp' post was published, happened on Thursday 23rd June - courtesy of another news article, on the "Official" Roku Stream Blog by Matthew Wee (Senior Product Manager for Roku in the USA). This broke the news of an Roku app for Windows 10 Laptops and Tablets - from the U.S. Microsoft Store - available (as with the "PlayStation Vue" channel) only to Roku users in the United States. Given that this was the first time the Roku app would be available to tablet users, I was hoping they could have offered it to users in all Roku "regions"... and, apparently, I wasn't the only one left rather non-plussed by this:-
Like Chris "Pastie Bap" Caldwell (from Northern Ireland) I questioned the decision by Roku to not offer this latest incarnation of the Roku app to those from "other" regions outside the U.S. and made my feelings known to Roku via the companion Twitter Feed: @ukrokuchannels further to which the article has since been amended to reveal that "...the app will be available internationally soon"! :-)
In the meantime... thankfully, we have (again) been blessed with another 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 half a dozen channels for which no 'Roku Guide' review was published. With the potentially risky "Amateur Stunts" and the rather risqué "Dr Sonjia's Sex in South Beach" towards the top of my list... the (most likely) reason for this is that those channels did not feature in the "New" category of the Roku (USA) Web Channel Store at all. Instead, their existence only came to light via the channel descriptions found in the "Comedy" and "Special Interest" genres, respectively. This is (no doubt) how they were missed by 'Roku Guide' and, consequently, why no reviews were published for me to link to. As for the other four channels, at the very end of my list, there are (currently) no active links to their respective 'Roku Guide' reviews because they were only added to the listings for the "New" category of the "Official" Roku (USA) Web Channel Store after the weekly publishing deadline for the current batch of new Roku channel reviews had passed.
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:-
KATAPY TUBE.....................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "WEB VIDEO" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
BABY BOOM CLASSICS....................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "FILM & TV" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
B'NAI SHALOM TV..............................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "RELIGIOUS" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
AMATEUR STUNTS [by Fawesome.TV].............................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "COMEDY" in the Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
DR SONJIA'S SEX IN SOUTH BEACH...............................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "SPECIAL INTEREST" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***
PRAYER CITY USA.............................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "RELIGIOUS" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
BETTER LIFE TV..................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "RELIGIOUS" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
KITTY CATNIP...............................................COST: £1.99 (MONTHLY) [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "LIFESTYLE" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
TV LA VIÑA.........................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "RELIGIOUS" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
ZPTV-PREMIUM............COST: FREE (n.b. may require additional fees) [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "FILM & TV" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
HEAVY METAL TV..............................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "MUSIC" in the Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
NASA TV HD........................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "SCI & TECH" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
ANIMALS......................................COST: £1.49 (ONE-OFF PAYMENT) [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "SCREENSAVERS" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***
GET A LIFE MEDIA.............................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "RELIGIOUS" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
FATIMA TV ITALIA......................................COST: £8.99 (MONTHLY) [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "RELIGIOUS" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
LIVE ISLAMIC TV................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "RELIGIOUS" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
ALL SPIDERS................................COST: £0.69 (ONE-OFF PAYMENT) [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "SCREENSAVERS" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***
SLOTS XL.......................COST: FREE (n.b. may require additional fees) [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "GAMES" in the Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
THE UNITED KINGDOM CHANNEL................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "SPECIAL INTEREST" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***
THE ADRENALINE CHANNEL.........................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "SPECIAL INTEREST" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***
THE BOLLYWOOD CHANNEL.........................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "SPECIAL INTEREST" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***
BOOM SLOTS.......................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "GAMES" in the Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***