Hi, everyone !!
Before I get into the Roku-specific news from the past seven days, I wanted to make you aware of another LIMITED-TIME OFFER that I came across recently - again, from NowTV. The reason for starting my 'Weekly RoundUp' post with this is the DEAL ENDS ON SUNDAY 1st OCTOBER at 23:59 so, to take advantage of this offer, you need to ACT FAST to avoid missing out! :-O ;-) :-)
As I've said before, I still feel £20.00 per month is a lot to ask for a service that offers far less in terms of viewing choice (i.e. no 1, 2, or 3 channel options for less money), picture quality, and functionality (i.e. no red button, etc.) than the equivalent package(s) from 'Sky UK' (via satellite dish) but, even so, it's better to pay just twenty pounds for a month of 'Sky Sports' than the usual £33.99 they charge. So, if you're interested in saving 40% OFF the cost of a 'Sky Sports Month Pass' from 'NowTV', simply sign-in to your NowTV account online and go to: My Account > My Passes, then scroll down to the section for 'NowTV Sports' and click on the link to 'Apply a voucher' (if available) to be able to enter the voucher code: AANOWCTKMDFL which is needed to get the offer shown in the above image.
If you manage to apply the above code in time, you could even take advantage of another offer for 'NowTV Sports' from Roku... which entitles RokuUK users to 50% OFF a 'Sky Sports Month Pass' from 'NowTV', meaning you'll pay only £16.99 for the following month, by following the exact same process and entering the voucher code: AANOWBAVKTZE once you have less than 30 days to run on your current 'Sky Sports Month Pass' from 'NowTV'... assuming you haven't used it already! ;-) :-)
Assuming you get to take advantage of both offers, you will be getting two months' worth of 'Sky Sports' action for a total outlay of only £36.99 (normally £67.98 for that period of time) and will have access to all ten channels of 'Sky Sports' until the end of November, before you need to worry about paying-out again. JUST REMEMBER: these passes will auto-renew at full price (currently £33.99 per month) if you do not cancel them before they reach the renewal date. If you're using both codes, you'll only need to cancel after you have applied the 2nd one... as the reduced price will replace the normal cost of renewing the pass. TIP: When the time to cancel does come around, I advise doing-so as soon as possible (rather than leaving it to the last day). You can still watch all of the channels until the original end date of your pass, even if you cancel just five minutes after you have first applied the code, and this will save any nasty shocks at a later date! ;-) :-)
Moving on to the Roku-specific news from this week... there was really only one major story that was dominating the headlines, and that was the much-anticipated launch of Roku's IPO on Thursday. This was preceded by an official announcement, via this press release from Roku, that the pricing for their Initial Public Offering would be $14.00 USD per share. With Roku issuing & selling 9 million shares of Class A common stock, and stockholders selling an additional 6, 668, 000 shares of the same type, this made a combined total in excess of 15 million shares which began trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol '$ROKU' when the opening bell rang on 28th September 2017. To celebrate this momentous occasion... the Roku CEO, Anthony Wood, and various associates paid a visit to New York where they were showered in old-fashioned "ticker tape" while they cheered:-
Not long afterwards, they gathered at the iconic Times Square for another photo opportunity beside a huge purple & white hoarding proclaiming Roku to be the number one TV streaming platform in the USA... while, behind them, was an even larger welcome greeting from the Nasdaq family:-
Meanwhile, as the Roku entourage enjoyed some New York sunshine, their stock value was also proving to be hot stuff... and, by the end of the day, had risen in value by close to 68% on the day:-
Since Roku and their selling stockholders granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 2,350,200 shares of Class A common stock at the initial public offering price (less underwriting discounts and commissions) it looks like being a very profitable exercise for them... let's just hope that some of the money they raise goes towards updating the (long ago since) out-of-date UK Roku model line-up with some 4K-capable streaming devices and Roku TV's for UK users! ;-) :-)
Anyhow... with little else aside from one special offer, plus details of the Initial Public Offering (IPO) from Roku and their subsequent launch on the Nasdaq to bring you, in terms of newsworthy items from the last seven days, I'd best turn my attention to getting you up to speed with all the latest new Roku channels added to UK Roku devices since my last 'Weekly RoundUp' post was published! ;-) :-)
If you did happen to read my previous 'Weekly RoundUp' post, in which I commented as to how 'Roku Guide' had fallen far short of compiling a complete set of reviews for all of the new channels which were released in the seven days preceding their article, you will doubtless be pleased to hear that I have since posted active links to 'Roku Guide' reviews for many of them. Sadly, as their most recent article (dated 29th September 2017) does little more than to play "catch-up" with reviews that were absent from the previous six weeks, it means there were very few 'Roku Guide' reviews for the channels which were actually released between the 23rd and 29th September 2017. As a direct result, there are currently "missing" links to 'Roku Guide' reviews for more than fifty per cent of the new additions to the "Official" Roku UK Channel Store in this particular 'Weekly RoundUp' post. Unfortunately, this (once more) leaves UK users rather short of additional info... and, much like the last month or so, rather than simply regurgitate what is written in each channel description from the channel store, I'm (yet again) going to have to leave it for each of you (individually) to access those details via the built-in channel store on your Roku device(s). Needless to say, once the "missing" reviews have been published by 'Roku Guide', I will (as I have in previous weeks) ensure that I add the relevant links to this post. Apologies (once more) for any inconvenience that may have been caused by the absence of active links to an independent review(s) for so many of these new channels but, like I say, it was completely out of my hands. Meanwhile, I advise scanning the list below to see which channels (if any) you think are likely to appeal... and then going to the built-in channel store on your Roku device(s), to read the description(s) there, for precise details on your pick of the latest new Roku channels (apps) which have been added to UK Roku devices during this past week! :-)
While it's far from being another epic list of fifty-plus channels as it was three months ago, you will find there's a fair few new options under "Film & TV", plus "Kids & Family", as well as "Religion" and "Web Video", while "Sports" fans also have several more options, along with a couple of new additions to both the "Music", plus "Special Interest" categories (i.e. genres) among other channels for those with an interest in "Games", "Lifestyle", or "Travel" videos, to keep you entertained over the coming weeks and months. In fact, while it's only a comparatively short list, there should be something to please most streamers here. If not, I again shared details for some private channels (via social media) and some more special offers related to various Roku channels that are available in the UK. Check out my Twitter Feed: @ukrokuchannels if you'd like to know more about those and, while you're there, maybe "Like" and/or "Retweet" some of my messages to spread the word about what's happening Roku-wise in the UK and beyond! ;-) :-)
Anyway, back to the list... which, as always, will help you to identify the very latest apps which have been added to Roku devices in the UK. Other websites offering Roku channel listings will base their contents on the Roku USA Channel Store, which means they also include apps that are unavailable to UK Roku users. Like I've said before... if you really want to know what's available channel-wise, for owners of Roku devices in the UK, you need to be reading this blog each and every week! ;-) :-)
Before I run through the new channels, however, a reminder that UK Roku users are still subject to restrictions (imposed by Roku) and (bizarrely) remain unable to access the channel descriptions from the web store on the Roku (USA) website. That said, the majority of text in those web listings can also be found within the individual 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 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 here 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 that channel. As it stands, the links below (and to the left of) each icon are (currently) only of use to readers of this blog from the USA. This means that 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 (at least) 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 that 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. Meanwhile, that which Roku (apparently) 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's my 'Weekly RoundUp' of all the new Roku channels released between 24th September 2017 and 30th September 2017:-
TELE OLIVE US...................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "FILM & TV" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
MY HUNT FIX..........COST: FREE (n.b. may require additional fees) [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "SPORTS" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
BAKER STREET BROADCASTING..................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "FILM & TV" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
OCEANVIEW........................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "TRAVEL" in the Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
BOBBY HOGAN MINISTRIES...........................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "RELIGIOUS" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
THE HALLOWEEN WINDOW..............................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "SPECIAL INTEREST" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***
LIVING FAITH TELEVISION...............................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "RELIGIOUS" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
BE COURAGEOUS MINISTRIES.........................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "RELIGIOUS" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
NEW TESTAMENT CHRISTIAN CHURCH........................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "RELIGIOUS" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
SALON STYLIN TV...............................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "LIFESTYLE" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
EMMA HAVOK OFICIAL.....................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "MUSIC" in the Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
TAKE SOME CRIME.............................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "MUSIC" in the Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
GREEK TV LITE....................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "FILM & TV" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
THROTTLE - CARS & MOTORCYCLES.............................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "SPECIAL INTEREST" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***
GT CHANNEL - CARS AND RACING...............................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "SPORTS" in the Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
PROPHECY UPDATE............................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "RELIGIOUS" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
FAIL ZONE.............................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "WEB VIDEO" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
VIDS GONE VIRAL..............................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "WEB VIDEO" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
PRANK ZONE........................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "WEB VIDEO" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
LEVEL ONE - GAMING.......................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "GAMES" in the Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
CUTE ZONE...........................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "WEB VIDEO" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
FRUIT NINJA.........................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "KIDS & FAMILY" in the Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***
HALFBRICK STUDIOS........................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "KIDS & FAMILY" in the Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***
IGLESIA ADVENTISTA DE PINAS..................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "RELIGIOUS" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
XBTV....................................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "SPORTS" in the Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
MOMMYS DOLL CORNER.................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "KIDS & FAMILY" in the Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***
STALKER PLAYER.............COST: FREE (n.b. needs IPTV subscription) [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "FILM & TV" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***