Hi, everyone !!
Well... the rumoured release date, of 11th October 2013, for the Roku 1 and Roku 2 players to the UK market came and went without any fireworks and (unfortunately) without any sign of the two elusive members of "The All-New Roku Family" which were (previously) expected to join the Roku 3 this week. All that I've managed to glean from various sources online is that the release date is now being quoted simply as "TBC", in other words... "To Be Confirmed", so, don't hold your breath !! Aside from that, I've also learned this week that COMPILING A BLOG POST EVERY DAY, as I have been for my contribution to the Countdown To Hallowe'en IS REALLY TIME-CONSUMING. So, when it comes to Saturday and I find myself not only having to write the next instalment in the series of posts for "A MummyVision Guide To Hallowe'en On Roku" but also try and complete my regular 'Weekly RoundUp' of NEW ADDITIONS to the "Official Roku UK Channel Store, the lack of time I have to do this in becomes painfully obvious. LESSON LEARNED: If I take part in anything like this month-long blogathon again, I must be sure to prepare a few posts "ahead of time" so I'm not always playing catch-up and putting off other things I should, and would rather, be doing.
Anyway, let's get on with the details for the current 'Weekly RoundUp' of NEW ADDITIONS to the "Official" Roku UK Channel Store. This time, there are SIX NEW CHANNELS which have been added during the past seven days. These LATEST ADDITIONS to the Roku UK Channel Store PROVIDED FRESH NEW CONTENT to the Film & TV, International, Food, Special Interest plus Religion & Spirituality genres (i.e. categories) on the streaming media player.
In keeping with previous installments from the 'Weekly RoundUp' series, details of these new channels have all been listed below, together with links to obtain further information {by clicking on the channel name(s) beneath the respective channel icon(s) as pictured} and to read a 'Roku Guide' review (where available) for each one:-
SHOCK RADIO!......................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
DESTINATION CARIBBEAN TV..............................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
THE CHURCH ON THE WAY...................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
HAPPY KIDS.........................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
THE COOKING CHANNEL.......................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
THE B/W...............................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
THE COOKING CHANNEL.......................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
THE B/W...............................................................................COST: FREE [Roku Guide Review]
*********************************************
So, whether it's re-runs of black & white TV shows from the 1950's, broadcasting LIVE on Roku 24/7, music, stories & activity guides to both entertain and educate kids of all ages, religious programming, helpful tips & tricks for cooking (including useful facts on a wide variety of spices PLUS many traditional recipes from all over the world), virtual guided tours of the Caribbean, or even a marathon of ALL 89 EPISODES of the horror parody "Shock Radio!" show, created & hosted by voice artist Dave Wills, which first aired on WFDU-FM in the USA, we've pretty much got all those bases covered with these latest NEW ADDITIONS to the Roku UK Channel Store.
Anyway, like it or not, that is your lot for this week and, whilst it doesn't quite the match-up to the nine channels which made it into the "Official" Roku USA Channel Store during the same time-frame, I always think it's better to have SOME NEW CHOICES than none at all, don't you ?!!
Still, hopefully everyone in the UK with a Roku player managed to find something they like within the six channels outlined above. If not, then you'll have to pay us a visit another time when, with any luck, there will be something more to your liking. Afterall, there's no point installing every channel because, as I've said before, when it comes to adding new channels to your Roku player, IT'S YOUR CHOICE and, as with all things Roku... THE CHOICE IS ALWAYS YOURS !!
*********************************************
Meanwhile, for my last nine 'Weekly RoundUp' posts, I have been suggesting we spare a thought for all the poor folk who handed over their hard-earned cash for one of those NowTV Boxes [Powered by Sky] which, as you may recall, have (so far) totally failed to live up to their full potential. Likewise, the original promise from NowTV of "more great content" with "more apps being continually added", is yet to be adhered to, since there still hasn't been a single extra new channel added since the launch of the product. As previously, while time moves on so (it seems) does the tumbleweed...
+-+ZERO+NEW+NowTV+CHANNELS.jpg)
HINT: Click on the above image to ENLARGE IT for easier viewing !!
PHOTO SOURCE: Buy Tumbleweed Now
As with EVERY WEEK since it was launched, there has (once more) been literally NO ACTION in terms of NEW ADDITIONS to the channel selection on the NowTV Box. This means that, over the course of a week, NowTV have yet again managed to produce a (NOT SO) GRAND TOTAL of absolutely ZERO NEW CHANNELS to add to their (already SEVERELY REDUCED) version of the Roku Channel Store as included on their NowTV Box. Meanwhile, the "Official" Roku Channel Store that features on all UK Roku players has added SIX EXTRA CHANNELS during that same period of time. To keep things in perspective, in the eleven weeks since the launch of the NowTV Box, there has been a total of NINETY-FIVE EXTRA CHANNELS added to the "Official" Roku Channel Store on UK Roku players, as compared with ZERO EXTRA CHANNELS being added to the Roku Channel Store on the streaming player from NowTV.
At one point this week, I thought that they had LOST ANOTHER CHANNEL when it seemed that the 'EWTN Europe' channel had gone AWOL from the "Religion & Spirituality" genre (i.e. category) in the Roku Channel Store on the NowTV Box. As it turns out, however, it was still there BUT (for some strange reason) it was only listed among the "New" channels and not in any of the recognised channel store categories. Perhaps that was part of an attempt by NowTV to re-populate their flagging "New" channel category which, at one point, had dwindled to a count of just three channels !! However, even these efforts to disguise the fact that THEY HAVEN'T ADDED ANY CHANNELS to the NowTV Box since it was first launched are seriously futile. Do they really think that no-one will have noticed how these (supposedly) "New" channels featured on the NowTV Box from day one ?!!
Now, I really don't mean to keep sounding like a scratched record but, if the NowTV Box is going to succeed, they really need to start showing us that it is indeed "Powered by Sky" and ensure that the device lives up to it's moniker by adding those long-promised "must-see shows" from Sky 1, Sky Atlantic, Sky Arts and Sky Living "NOW" and not "later this year". As I've said in previous weeks... if this lack of support for the NowTV Box continues, it will eventually be branded as the "NO TV BOX" with people becoming more & more disillusioned at the unfulfilled promise of the device & the associated lack of channel choice available on it. Seriously, folks, do yourselves a BIG FAVOUR and spend the extra twenty quid or so to get a Roku LT that will allow you to ACCESS NETFLIX and many other film & tv channels (as well as NowTV) and which, by November, will most likely give you AN EXTRA 600 CHANNELS TO CHOOSE FROM than the NowTV Box. Given that the Roku LT is less than twenty channels away from achieving that figure, as I write, and with an average of more than one new channel per day added... I'd say that's less of a possibility & more an inevitability !!
At one point this week, I thought that they had LOST ANOTHER CHANNEL when it seemed that the 'EWTN Europe' channel had gone AWOL from the "Religion & Spirituality" genre (i.e. category) in the Roku Channel Store on the NowTV Box. As it turns out, however, it was still there BUT (for some strange reason) it was only listed among the "New" channels and not in any of the recognised channel store categories. Perhaps that was part of an attempt by NowTV to re-populate their flagging "New" channel category which, at one point, had dwindled to a count of just three channels !! However, even these efforts to disguise the fact that THEY HAVEN'T ADDED ANY CHANNELS to the NowTV Box since it was first launched are seriously futile. Do they really think that no-one will have noticed how these (supposedly) "New" channels featured on the NowTV Box from day one ?!!
Now, I really don't mean to keep sounding like a scratched record but, if the NowTV Box is going to succeed, they really need to start showing us that it is indeed "Powered by Sky" and ensure that the device lives up to it's moniker by adding those long-promised "must-see shows" from Sky 1, Sky Atlantic, Sky Arts and Sky Living "NOW" and not "later this year". As I've said in previous weeks... if this lack of support for the NowTV Box continues, it will eventually be branded as the "NO TV BOX" with people becoming more & more disillusioned at the unfulfilled promise of the device & the associated lack of channel choice available on it. Seriously, folks, do yourselves a BIG FAVOUR and spend the extra twenty quid or so to get a Roku LT that will allow you to ACCESS NETFLIX and many other film & tv channels (as well as NowTV) and which, by November, will most likely give you AN EXTRA 600 CHANNELS TO CHOOSE FROM than the NowTV Box. Given that the Roku LT is less than twenty channels away from achieving that figure, as I write, and with an average of more than one new channel per day added... I'd say that's less of a possibility & more an inevitability !!
*********************************************
Still, whether you happen to own a Roku player, a NowTV Box, OR BOTH, as I do... be sure to come back in seven days' time for my next 'Weekly RoundUp' and, if you can't wait that long, remember you can always keep up with all the UK Roku action (as it happens) throughout the coming week, by following the companion Twitter Feed: @ukrokuchannels where up-to-the-minute info on all things Roku-related (here in the UK) is posted on a daily basis (well, almost).
Until the next time, then...
That's all folks !!
No comments:
Post a Comment