Hi, everyone !!
While there have not been any Roku-specific announcements in the seven days since my previous 'Weekly RoundUp' post was published, I did manage to find a handful of Roku-related news stories which I intend to share with you. Given all the talk about 'Brexit' in recent times, it seems only right that the first item is related to a new European law that will require streaming services that operate within the EU (European Union) to adhere to local product quotas across the region. The legislation, which obligates the likes of Netflix, Prime Video, et al to dedicate at least 30% of their on-demand catalogs to local content is set to become enshrined in law very soon. It will require these companies to fund TV series and films produced in Europe by commissioning content, acquiring it, or paying into national film funds through a small surcharge added to their subscription fee, to comply with the changes - something which is already happening in Germany - and demand visibility / prominence of European product, by streaming services, with the new rules on track to be approved in December.
Further details about these proposed changes to the regulations (which have yet to pass a final vote) can be found in a related article, published via the 'Variety' website, along with additional insight on other European rules (currently in development) that are intended to force user-generated platforms like YouTube and other streaming services to pay increased copyright fees to Film & TV directors as well as writers. Should we leave the EU, of course, then these new regulations might not be adopted within the United Kingdom but, when all is said and done, having additional funding for European film & TV productions can only be considered as a bonus for those who create the content. The only potential down side that I can see is if these new rules lead to an increase in subscription fees. Then again, it could be argued that this will happen with or without them so I guess only time will tell! :-/
In other Netflix-related news a recent article, published via the 'Cordcutting.com' website, made the interesting observation that the streaming giant may have had an ulterior motive when they chose to "retire" their user reviews feature at the end of July. Despite citing "declining usage" as the deciding factor for it's withdrawal from the service, analysis of user rating data performed by Cordcutting.com showed that the ratings afforded to 'Netflix Original' productions had been fairing increasingly poorly in the time leading-up to the feature eventually being axed. Working with data which was collected from the Netflix website, prior to the take-down date, they discovered that the average user ratings for 'Netflix Original' series and movies had been declining steadily every year since 2012. They conclude by acknowledging how Netflix did not concede poor reviews had anything to do with the end of the review program but, when that very same original content is being battered by bad user reviews, it's fair to suggest it may have played a part and certainly provides a valuable lesson for other streaming services to the effect that incorporating a system of user reviews might not be such a wise business move for a company that creates and owns a good proportion of it's content! :-O ;-) :-)
Of course, not everyone relies on subscriptions to Netflix / Prime Video / NOW TV and (thankfully) the availability of free content - such as that provided by the various 'Catch-Up TV' services - means that there is a wealth of content available for streaming that does not require a payment upfront. The BBC, who recently upped their game with the addition of special box-sets for comedy and Dr. Who fans, has been busy preparing even more special box sets for streaming this autumn. As of this week, there are now 70+ documentaries from the back catalogues of both Louis Theroux and Stacey Dooley available to watch via the 'BBC iPlayer' channel on UK Roku devices and NowTV Boxes. According to the BBC, these documentaries include some of the most iconic films from Theroux & Dooley, each showcasing their unique approach to film-making. You can read more about these latest additions to the box-set content of 'BBC iPlayer' via the original press release from the BBC Media Centre, which includes full details of what's being made available. To give you a rough idea... some of issues that are covered in these interesting & challenging documentaries include: drug addiction, abortion, and the American criminal justice system, with "Weird Weekends" - the series that made Louis Theroux a household name in the 1990's - also featured among the box sets on offer, meaning that there should be something for pretty much everyone to enjoy streaming on their Roku in the coming months! :-D
While all of the above are related to existing apps available in the "Official" Roku UK Channel Store, there were several other news stories pertaining to streaming services which may well be coming to the Roku platform in the (hopefully) not too distant future (i.e. within the next twelve months, or so). Regular readers of this blog might recall my mentioning the launch of a dedicated sports streaming service, called "Eleven Sports UK", in my "Roku UK Channel Store - Weekly RoundUp #283" post from last month. By way of an update to that story, while there's still no sign of a Roku channel from the 'Eleven Sports UK' streaming service, it's now possible to use Google's 'Chromecast' devices to receive a live stream, cast from their mobile app(s), on your big screen television. Details of this new 'Chromecast' compatibility were first published via Twitter and judging from some of the comments, left by way of reply to the announcement, it appears to be a fairly decent alternative (for accessing the 'Eleven Sports UK' service on a larger screen) in the absence of a Roku channel to fulfil this purpose.
HINT:- Please CLICK on the above image TO ENLARGE IT for easier viewing !!
Another option, for those with an Amazon 'Fire TV' device, is to make use of the 'Silk Browser' for streaming content directly from the 'Eleven Sports UK' website. Again, this is not an ideal solution - especially for those of us who are already invested in the Roku platform - but if, like me, you happen to also own one of these Amazon products (e.g. for access to certain apps that are not yet on Roku) it does provide another way to avoid watching on the smaller screen of a mobile phone or tablet. When they do eventually publish a Roku channel, through which to access the 'Eleven Sports UK" service, I will (of course) provide full details via this blog - hopefully that'll be sooner, rather than later! ;-) :-)
While we're on the subject of live streaming sports content, there has been a further update as regards the 'BT Sport Box Office' service which was originally announced back on 17th April 2018 as having a proposed timeline for release of "later this year" and the promise that details re: content and pricing for live events would be confirmed "in due course". Anyway thanks to a subsequent article, published four months later on the same website, we discovered it would be the Middleweight rematch between Gennady Golovkin and Saul Canelo Alvarez that marked the official launch of 'BT Sport Box Office' and, as of this week, another more recent article confirming the event is now available for pre-order was published. As can be seen from the promo banner below, pricing for this 'BT Sport Box Office' event is along the same lines as we have seen from 'ITV Box Office' and 'Sky Sports Box Office', which could (again) prove to be a bit too expensive for some:-
AS BEFORE:- Please CLICK on the above image TO ENLARGE IT for easier viewing !!
Unfortunately unlike 'ITV Box Office' (available on UK Roku devices via the 'TVPlayer' channel) and 'Sky Sports Box Office' (available on UK Roku devices via an official private channel) or even the 'Eleven Sports UK' sports streaming service (available on 'Chromecast' / 'Fire TV' devices) your options for watching 'BT Sport Box Office' on the big screen are (at this time) somewhat limited:-
ONCE AGAIN:- Please CLICK on the above image TO ENLARGE IT for easier viewing !!
As can be seen from the above screenshot of the 'FAQ' section, on the 'BT Sport Box Office' website, the only way to watch a 'BT Sport Box Office' event is on 'Sky TV', or 'BT TV', or 'Virgin Media'... so, if you've been asking yourself: "Can I watch BT Sport Box Office on phone, tablet, or PC?", the official response is that "BT Sports Box Office events won't initially be available on an app or online player", and, unless you have a cable or satellite subscription, that means you won't be able to watch the fight from the comfort of your living room. On the plus side, however, 'BT Sport Box Office' has decided to mark the launch of their new Pay-Per-View (PPV) service by making the first event free to all of their pubs and clubs customers. So if you don't happen to have cable or satellite, but still wish to see this boxing event, you can put the £16.95 asking price towards your bar bill & enjoy the whole thing for free at your local boozer - provided they have a 'BT Sport' subscription, of course! ;-) :-)
Although we are still waiting for 'BT Sport' to finish developing their Roku channel (app) for NowTV devices, and (hopefully) UK Roku players, it will be interesting to discover whether (or not) we'll also be able to access any future 'BT Sport Box Office' events via that same app, or else via another Roku channel (app) exclusively dedicated to Pay-Per-View (PPV) events from 'BT Sport Box Office'. For the time being, however, it seems the landlord at my local will be getting my PPV fees for any upcoming events from 'BT Sport Box Office', until such a time as they cater for UK streamers like us and not just those who remain tied to expensive and unnecessary cable and/or satellite subscriptions!
Moving away from sports-related streaming... another recent news article, published by 'NDTV', has revealed how Viacom 18 (a joint venture between US media giant Viacom and India's TV18) plans to expand their Video-on-Demand (VoD) service, 'Voot', to the United Kingdom as of November 2018. This ad-funded service first launched in India in 2016 and will debut internationally when it comes to the UK later this year. A spokesperson for the company had the following to say about it:-
"With an Indian origin population of around 1.825 million, the UK market presents a significant reach opportunity for Voot to leverage."
Let's just hope they decide to "leverage" the Roku platform when they do come to the UK because, as we already know, these devices are ideally suited to streaming VoD content and already cater to the diaspora from India with several existing channels... so they have a ready-made audience just waiting to access whatever Bollywood movies, ‘Voot Original’ shows, premium web series, plus other shows from Colors, MTV India, Nickelodeon India, and Rishtey that are included with the 'Voot' service! :-)
If you're interested in what this 'Voot' video-on-demand service might offer the UK market, additional reading can be found in further articles on the subject by 'Biz Asia', and 'The Indian Express', as well as via the 'Urban Asian' website. For a more general overview, from several better-recognised sources of streaming TV news, you could also visit the websites of 'Advanced Television', 'Rapid TV News', or 'Digital TV Europe', all of whom covered the subject - although nothing Roku-specific was found. From what I could gather, there seems to be some confusion as to whether the initial launch will be limited to more traditional broadcast methods (i.e. Over-The-Air, plus Cable and/or Satellite TV) or, as with most video-on-demand providers, choose to go Over-The-Top (OTT) with a fully-fledged streaming service to reach the growing number of viewers who rely more on streaming entertainment.
This shift in viewing habits is covered in another recent article I came across, published online via the 'MultiChannel' website, which included the results of a study by 'Parks Associates' whose research in the area of streaming media has led them to believe that, by 2022, more than 265 million households worldwide will have more than 400 million OTT video service subscriptions. So if the likes of 'Voot', and 'BT Sport Box Office', plus 'Eleven Sports', etc. wish to reach as many subscribers as possible, it would make more sense for them to look to OTT streaming platforms like Roku than regular TV! ;-)
Anyway, with no other Roku-related news to share with you at this time, I'm now going to focus on the equally important matter of bringing you details for all the latest new Roku channels (apps) which were released during the seven days since my last 'Weekly RoundUp' post was published and, with a decent crop of twenty-plus new Roku channels to browse through, that should be more than enough to keep you occupied while I see what snippets of Roku-related news I can find for you next week! :-)
Firstly, though, I'd just like to mention (on a not entirely un-related note) that I have now added links to some (though, still not all) of the 'Roku Guide' reviews that were previously "missing" for many of the new Roku channels released in the last few weeks... so, if you'd like to see an independent appraisal of those, be sure to check-out my post from last week (see link above), which (itself) contains a link to the previous week's post (and so-on, and so-forth), for details of where to find them. Unfortunately, there are more "missing" links to 'Roku Guide' reviews for over ninety per cent of the new Roku apps that were published during the last seven days... which means, much like many other posts from recent months, I am going to have to leave it for each of you to access those details on your own. As of six months ago, you can choose to do that either via the built-in channel store on your Roku device(s)... or else, by following the links provided in each post to the relevant channel description(s) from the Roku Web Channel Store. Meanwhile, once the "missing" reviews have been published by 'Roku Guide', I will (as I have done previously) ensure that I add the relevant links to each post. Apologies (as always) for any inconvenience that may be caused by the absence of active links to an independent review for so many of these new apps but, like I say, it's entirely out of my hands. Hopefully they will get a chance to catch-up on them sometime in the coming week!?! ;-) :-)
Still, back to the list... which, as always, will help you to identify the very latest apps that 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. So, 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! ;-) :-)
With twice the number of active links to check out, not just for this week... but each and every post that has been previously published as part of my 'Weekly RoundUp' series over the last five years, there's a *lot* of reading to catch-up on. So, without further ado, here's my 'Weekly RoundUp' of all new Roku channels released between 2nd September 2018 and 8th September 2018:-
DEMENTED HITS....................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "COMEDY" in the Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
MINIFLYX TV........................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "FILM & TV" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
BAR TV NETWORK.................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "SPECIAL INTEREST" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***
EL TIEMPO LATINO................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "NEWS & WEATHER" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***
MINISTRA PLAYER......COST: FREE (n.b. may require additional fees) [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "FILM & TV" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
MOVIEBABY...................COST: FREE (n.b. may require additional fees) [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "FILM & TV" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
PRODIGIES MUSIC LESSONS.....COST: FREE (n.b. may require extra fees) [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "KIDS & FAMILY" in the Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***
VANTAGON TV...............COST: FREE (n.b. may require additional fees) [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "SPORTS" in the Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
NATURE VIEW.................COST: FREE (n.b. may require additional fees) [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "EDUCATIONAL" in the Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***
TVC TELEVISION................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "FILM & TV" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
ARTHOUSE MOVIES...........................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "INTERNATIONAL" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***
TPG RO-KU-FU INTERNATIONAL.........................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "SPECIAL INTEREST" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***
MOUNT HEBRON BAPTIST CHURCH................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "RELIGIOUS" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
PINE LEVEL PENTECOSTAL CHURCH..............................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "RELIGIOUS" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
HALLOWEEN HORROR FILMS..........................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "FILM & TV" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
CRN TALK............................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "NEWS & WEATHER" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***
KARTINA.TV..................COST: FREE (n.b. may require additional fees) [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "FILM & TV" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
MINISTERIO SANADOR......................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "RELIGIOUS" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
MOTHER GOOSE CLUB........................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "KIDS & FAMILY" in the Roku UK Channel Store WHEN RELEASED***
BEACH TENNIS............................COST: £0.69 (ONE-OFF PAYMENT) [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "GAMES" in the Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
ROYAL FAMILY EVANGELICAL CHURCH........................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "LIFESTYLE" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***
RED ADVENIR......................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
***FILED UNDER: "RELIGIOUS" in Roku UK Channel Store WHEN FIRST RELEASED***