Hi, everyone !!
If you happen to follow the companion Twitter Feed: @ukrokuchannels to this blog, then you will already be aware that it has been yet another quiet week, in terms of Roku-related news... in fact, the one item of BIG NEWS which I do have to share with you was not even published until the early hours of this morning (Saturday 2nd September 2017) in the UK. Quite why Roku would wait until 5pm (Pacific Time) on a Friday, right before a long "holiday" weekend in the U.S., to make an official announcement that they had finally filed for the IPO which they first hinted-at a while back is beyond me... perhaps they wanted to give the "money men" a little longer to mull it over in the hope of some favourable activity from next week onwards? Anyway the news, which came my way in a recent post published via the 'Mashable' website, revealed how documents were released on Friday evening that Roku are seeking an Initial Public Offering (IPO) of up to $100 million. It also came to light that the revenue total for the streaming media player manufacturer amounted to $399 million in 2016, which represents an increase of 25% on the previous year. Let's just hope that, whatever else they do with the extra capital, Roku manages to introduce some new models (preferably with a few 4K options) for UK buyers in the not too distant future - a 'Roku Ultra' would be a very welcome addition to our household over the festive period, and a 4K 'Roku TV' wouldn't go amiss, either! HINT, HINT! ;-) :-)
Anyhow... with little else aside from details of an initial public offering to bring you, in terms of newsworthy Roku items from the last seven days, I'd best now turn my attention to more important matters, such as getting you up to speed with all of the latest new Roku channels (apps) which have been made available on UK Roku devices since my last 'Weekly RoundUp' post was published! ;-) :-)
If you happen to have read my previous 'Weekly RoundUp' post, in which I commented as to how 'Roku Guide' had fallen massively 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 most of them. Sadly, as their most recent article (dated 1st September 2017) does little more than to play "catch-up" with reviews that were absent from the previous week, it means there were absolutely zero reviews published for the Roku channels which were actually released between 25th August and 1st September. As a direct result, there are currently "missing" links to 'Roku Guide' reviews for over ninety-five 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 couple of weeks, rather than simply regurgitate what is written in each channel description from the channel store, I'm (again) going 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 add the relevant links to this post, much like I did for the last one. Again, apologies for any inconvenience that may have been caused by the absence of any active links to the usual 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 made available on UK Roku devices during this past week! :-)
While it's far from being another epic list of fifty-plus channels as it was nine weeks ago, you will find there are a fair few new options under "Film & TV", plus "International", as well as a couple more under "Educational", "Lifestyle", and "Music", not forgetting the odd new addition to the "News & Weather", "Special Interest", "Sports", plus "Web Video" categories (i.e. genres), 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 did share details for some private channels (via social media) and some great 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 27th August 2017 and 2nd September 2017:-
POV HORROR FOUND FOOTAGE FILMS..........................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "FILM & TV" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
VIDA PRIMO...........................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "MUSIC" in the Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
FIRST ASSEMBLY OF GOD FAMFM...................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "RELIGIOUS" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
THE TESLA FILES..................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "EDUCATIONAL" in the Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***
CLASSICAL HARMONY.........................COST: FREE (n.b. may require additional fees) [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "MUSIC" in the Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
MOGUL SUPER MOMS NETWORK....................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "LIFESTYLE" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
BRASIL COM Z!.....................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "INTERNATIONAL" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***
IFI PLAYER.............................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "FILM & TV" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
VIENNA CHRISTIAN CENTER............................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "RELIGIOUS" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
RADIO 54 TV..........................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "UNCATEGORISED" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***
CRYPTO TRADER - BITCOIN SERIES................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "NEWS & WEATHER" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***
DI SOMMA TV........................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "RELIGIOUS" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
VR NET - VIRTUAL REALITY.............................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "SPECIAL INTEREST" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***
SCIENCE AND MATH TUTOR................COST: FREE (n.b. may require additional fees) [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "EDUCATIONAL" in the Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***
SANTA ANA STV CHANNEL - CA......................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "FILM & TV" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
ANAHEIM STV CHANNEL - CA..........................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "FILM & TV" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
COSTA MESA STV CHANNEL - CA....................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "FILM & TV" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
GLOBAL BUDDHIST TV NOW............................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "LIFESTYLE" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
BRIAN1234..............................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "INTERNATIONAL" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***
FIGHT CHANNEL WORLD HD............................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "SPORTS" in the Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
ORANGE STV CHANNEL - CA............................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "FILM & TV" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
GARDEN GROVE STV CHANNEL - CA..............................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "FILM & TV" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
IRVINE STV CHANNEL - CA................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "FILM & TV" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
MID-SOUTH BROADCASTING COMPANY.......................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "WEB VIDEO" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
ARIRANG TV LIVE................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "INTERNATIONAL" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***