Saturday, December 28, 2019

Roku UK Channel Store - Weekly RoundUp #355





Hi, everyone !!



While 'Christmas Day' itself may have come and gone the current Roku channel publishing blackout, for which I provided full details as part of my "Roku UK Channel Store - Weekly RoundUp #354" post exactly one week ago, remains in full effect (right over this weekend) lasting throughout all of the next week and will only come to an end on Sunday 5th January 2020. As a direct consequence of this, as with my last post, there were ZERO NEW CHANNELS RELEASED IN THE LAST SEVEN DAYS and that means my usual list of all the latest additions to the Roku Channel Store is totally redundant, in so far as this 'Weekly RoundUp' post is concerned, because it's entirely devoid of any new apps! :-(


As you might expect, with no Roku channels for me to list in this 'Weekly RoundUp' article, there have also been no 'Roku Guide' reviews published during the last seven days. From their perspective, at least, the absence of any new apps for them to review means the ongoing issue of "missing" reviews from the 'Roku Guide' website has (likewise) not worsened since my last mention of it on this blog. Even so, they remain more than seventy-five percent shy of where they should be and when things pick-up (once the current channel publishing blackout ends) there'll still be hundreds more Roku apps with no corresponding independent review for me to provide a link from the 'Weekly RoundUp' posts on this blog. I hope that shortfall is addressed soon because, as mentioned 48 weeks ago, the current situation isn't good for anyone: be they end-users, developers, bloggers like myself, or even Roku - whose platform provides the very source from which 'Roku Guide' compile their reviews! :-O


With the Roku (and Roku-related) bargains set to continue throughout the coming week, I will try to update this article with details of any special offers that I come across during that time. This could include things like voucher codes (or other offers) for streaming services, discounts on products from Roku themselves (TOP TIP: keep an eye on the right-hand sidebar of this blog for those updates), or anything else I find, in-between trying to blag a few (more) bargains for myself! ;-) :-D So, do keep checking back over the next week because the content of this article may well expand from one day to the next as I report on anything (and everything) which may be of interest! ;-) :-)



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Anyhow, for now at least, that is your lot this week... other than to mention, for those still clinging-on to their NowTV device(s), there were also zero new Roku channels (apps) added to the 'App Store' on NOW TV products... meaning the total number of available apps remains at just forty-one! :-(


Moreover, with no 'TVPlayer', or 'Prime Video', or 'Apple TV' apps (to name but three) among the selection of channels in the NOW TV 'App Store' - despite having dedicated channels for all of them on UK Roku devices - the range of NowTV-branded products continues to fall short of the mark in terms of current streaming needs for many in the UK. So, the best way to increase your choice of streaming services, is to swap any NowTV-branded products you own for genuine Roku-branded media players and gain access to 8,700+ apps of content, from a vast assortment of providers! ;-) :-)


In any event, hopefully everyone in the UK with a Roku player can find something they like within the eight thousand seven hundred plus "public" channels outlined on this blog over the last six and three quarter years... or the "private" channels "gifted" via the (now suspended) companion Twitter Feed: @ukrokuchannels to this blog, at various points over that time. However, if you didn't find anything to add to your own Roku channel selection from the vast assortment of apps on offer, you can always pay us a visit some other time when, with any luck, there will be something more to your liking. After all there's no point installing every app since, when it comes to adding new channels to your Roku devices, IT'S YOUR CHOICE and, as with all things Roku... THE CHOICE IS ALWAYS YOURS! :-D



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As touched upon previously, you can expect my usual summary of all the goings-on (or not) in the (severely restricted) Roku Channel Store (aka "App Store") that features on NowTV devices to carry on in future posts. Meanwhile, whether you happen to own a Roku player, NowTV Box, OR BOTH, as I do... be sure to check my earlier posts (as mentioned previously) for details of all new additions to the "Official" Roku UK Channel Store in each of the two hundred & eighty-one preceding weeks, then come back again in seven days' time for my next 'Weekly RoundUp'. Hopefully, by the time I make my next post, I may even have sorted out another (new) companion Twitter Feed to replace the now suspended: @ukrokuchannels account so there'll still be a presence on the social media platform via which up-to-the-minute info on Roku-related matters (here in the UK) is posted on a daily basis! :-)




Until the next time, then...




That's all folks !!





Saturday, December 21, 2019

Roku UK Channel Store - Weekly RoundUp #354




Hi, everyone !!



After a couple of weeks, during which we've seen in excess of 280+ new Roku apps released across both of my 'Weekly RoundUp' posts, it might come as a bit of a surprise for some of you to hear that there were actually ZERO NEW CHANNELS RELEASED IN THE LAST SEVEN DAYS but, for those who may not already have been aware, it was planned that way as far back as June of this year. Anyone who read my "Roku UK Channel Store - Weekly RoundUp #350" post from last month will by now be familiar with Roku's annual publishing blackout over the 'Thanksgiving' holiday period in the United States. However, as long-time Roku users (like myself) can attest, there has traditionally also been another extended publishing blackout over the festive period at the end of the year. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the same applies for the few weeks covering the end of 2019 into the New Year 2020. Thankfully, normal service should be resumed in a few weeks... but, in the meantime, be sure to keep an eye on the sidebar of this blog (located in the top right portion of the page) for details of the best prices on Roku over the 'Boxing Day' sales (i.e. Thursday 26th December 2019) as well as during the weeks that follow going into the 'January Sales' throughout the first month of 2020. Whenever I can find the time (on any given day) this information will be updated daily with all the best deals! ;-) :-D


In the meantime, if I hear of any Roku-related special offers and/or newsworthy items which I feel may be of interest to readers of this blog I will add the details to whatever happens to be the current article at the time. So, if you wish to stay informed on Roku-related matters of this sort over the next week (i.e. prior to the publication of my next 'Weekly RoundUp' post) then be sure to bookmark this page and come back to it (every now and again) to check for any news updates or deals on any Roku products that are currently being marketed in the UK. For those who may have missed my daily post updates in the past seven days, it may interest you to know that the complete list of 143 new Roku channels (from my "Roku UK Channel Store - Weekly RoundUp #353" post) is now available in it's entirety. So, if you're feeling a little let-down by the absence of new channels in this current post, you could do worse than to spend some time browsing the full list of 140+ apps from last week, together with the equally impressive list of 138 new Roku channels from the week before that, for a combined choice of over two hundred and eighty new channels to add to the selection of apps which are already installed on your own Roku device(s). One way or another, there's plenty to occupy your time just by reading this blog... never mind the (seemingly) endless hours of streaming content at your fingertips whenever you do sit down to watch something on your Roku over the festive period! ;-) :-D


Finally, although there are no Roku channels for me to list in this 'Weekly RoundUp' post, there have been a few more 'Roku Guide' reviews published during the last seven days... the links to which have now been added to the relevant posts on this blog. From their perspective, the absence of any new apps to review means the ongoing issue of "missing" reviews from the 'Roku Guide' website has (at least) not worsened since my last mention of it on this blog. In fact, since they managed to produce another eight reviews, with three from last week, plus; two more from the week before that, along with; three US-only channels, it means that the deficit has actually been reduced for only the second time this year! :-O Even so, they remain more than seventy-five percent shy of where they should be and when things pick-up again (once the current channel publishing blackout ends) there could be hundreds (if not thousands) more Roku apps with no corresponding independent review for me to provide a link from the 'Weekly RoundUp' posts on this blog. I hope that shortfall is addressed soon because, as mentioned 47 weeks ago, the current situation isn't good for anyone connected to Roku: be they end-users, developers, bloggers like myself, or even Roku - whose platform provides the very source from which 'Roku Guide' compile their reviews! :-O




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Anyhow, like it or not, that is your lot this week... other than to mention, for those still clinging-on to their NowTV device(s), that there were also zero new Roku channels (apps) added to the 'App Store' on NOW TV products... meaning the total number of available apps remains at just forty-one! :-(


Moreover, with no 'TVPlayer', or 'Prime Video', or 'Apple TV' apps (to name but three) among the selection of channels in the NOW TV 'App Store' - despite having dedicated channels for all of them on UK Roku devices - the range of NowTV-branded products continues to fall short of the mark in terms of current streaming needs for many in the UK. So, the best way to increase your choice of streaming services, is to swap any NowTV-branded products you own for genuine Roku-branded media players and gain access to 8,700+ apps of content, from a vast assortment of providers! ;-) :-)


In any event, hopefully everyone in the UK with a Roku player can find something they like within the eight thousand seven hundred plus "public" channels outlined on this blog over the last six and three quarter years... or the "private" channels "gifted" via the (now suspended) companion Twitter Feed: @ukrokuchannels to this blog, at various points over that time. However, if you didn't find anything to add to your own Roku channel selection from the vast assortment of apps on offer, you can always pay us a visit some other time when, with any luck, there will be something more to your liking. After all there's no point installing every app since, when it comes to adding new channels to your Roku devices, IT'S YOUR CHOICE and, as with all things Roku... THE CHOICE IS ALWAYS YOURS! :-D



*********************************************


As touched upon previously, you can expect my usual summary of all the goings-on (or not) in the (severely restricted) Roku Channel Store (aka "App Store") that features on NowTV devices to carry on in future posts. Meanwhile, whether you happen to own a Roku player, NowTV Box, OR BOTH, as I do... be sure to check my earlier posts (as mentioned previously) for details of all new additions to the "Official" Roku UK Channel Store in each of the two hundred & eighty preceding weeks, then come back again in seven days' time for my next 'Weekly RoundUp'. Hopefully, by the time I make my next post, I may even have sorted out another (new) companion Twitter Feed to replace the now suspended: @ukrokuchannels account so there'll still be a presence on the social media platform via which up-to-the-minute info on Roku-related matters (here in the UK) is posted on a daily basis! :-)



Until the next time, then...



That's all folks !!