Plex Media Server

Or

How to create your own Personal Netflix!

Part I

It has been a very long time since I have posted here, I wish that it could be that it was because I was doing something noble, but the truth is that I’m a procrastinator. My love of Roku and what is has to offer isn’t diminished, if you’ve gone to the Facebook Roku Sites, you’ve most likely seen me active on there.

It’s time to get back in the Game.

Plex Media Server is one of the things that I have bragged about for quite some time. I installed it on a computer for the first time about six months after I got my first Roku to try it out and have been an avid fan since. It’s got a sleek layout, both on your computer as well as on your Roku device. It supports subtitles if you rip them from your DVD or Blu-ray, it supports Chapter marks and if you encode your movie in the MKV format it will allow you to have multiple audio tracks.

Multiple Audio?

Yep. You have the obvious like foreign languages such as Spanish, French, Portuguese but also the directors commentary. What else? Digital Audio. That superb audio track you get with surround sound 7.1 audio where it makes you feel like your in the middle of a battle while watching Fury or the sound of Darth Vader’s Tie Fighter behind your X-wing while watching Luke attack the Death Star, or the sounds of rain falling all around you while watching the Notebook. Roku 4 supports a digital audio out into your sound system now.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my movies, but I’m more concerned with picture quality while encoding my DVD’s into MP4. My TV has a left speaker and a right speaker. That’s good enough for me.

I digress. Back to Plex Media Server.

I’ve actually already have one that works okay. I could have gotten by without one, but my nephew has informed his parents that he wishes to build a computer, which is something that I’ve been wanting to do for some time. I saw the article that he wanted to use as his guide and doing some quick mental calculations I determined that he could have a significantly better build for just a few dollars more, but we were doing his build on some very high dollar equipment. I figured that if I purchased the parts for my computer, we could build mine first to get some practice.

My plan for this computer was to be budget build (read as “I wanted it to be as cheap as I could get away with”). Considering that I’m getting away with a 12 year old Dell computer as my Plex Server with very little problems, so I wanted something that will be more powerful than that. I wanted a tower that would permit me to expand with multiple hard drives (I currently have close to a TB worth of movies and TV episodes ripped from DVD’s) because video does take up a significant amount of space, and my video library is slowly growing. So doing some online shopping I ordered everything from Newegg with my total bill coming to just slightly more than $350.

Parts:

Going into this, there were a few thing that I knew up front. I was going to go with AMD because their prices are about 1/3 lower in price compared to their Intel counterparts, and I wanted more processing power than my current set up. Although I’ve not had any major issues with my current Plex Media Streamer, a Optiplex model that hasn’t been made in over 10 years, I did notice that while streaming from the CBS or CW channel I would often get buffering, most likely due to the computer having difficulty trans coding (changing the video format on the fly to a format that Roku can stream) it.

I settled on two different processors. A 2.02 GHz quad core and a 3.6 GHz dual core. The side by side testing reviews that I looked into showed that these processors perform nearly identical with the 3.6 GHz dual core performing just a tad bit better, but the 2 GHz using less electrical power. I opted for the 2 GHz quad core and when double checking the compatibility of the unit I found that, although it did have a USB 3.0 on the back of the motherboard, it had no place on the mother board to plug the USB 3.0 that was located on the front of the tower, meaning that my USB 3.0 would be either dead, or a USB 2.0. Not a huge deal mind you, but enough for me to look harder at the other motherboard and CPU combination.

I really like Newegg’s set up. You have the ability to pick a motherboard and it will give you options on what CPU and RAM will go along with that motherboard on some select combination setups. Found a motherboard that would carry the CPU that I was interested in, checked to ensure that it would allow me to use the USB 3 on the front of the tower and picked the RAM. My total cost: $207.09 for the Motherboard, Computer Chip, RAM and 2 TB HDD.

Tower:

This one was a little tricky. At first I wanted one that was slightly larger than your DVD/Bluray, but it dawned on me that if I did that there were some issues that I was going to have problems with, like, installing another HDD when the time came (note – when the time came, not IF the time came) and the possibility of doing a TV/DVR system that I’ve been wanting to do for some time too. I also knew that working in such a little case was probably not my wisest decision for my very first build, so I ruled it out. It was a shame too because there was this kit that came with a Power supply and smaller tower that I really liked too. Going to the Parts setting on Newegg search, I selected ‘Towers’ and “Most Reviews” as how I wanted them sorted out. This listing placed the Towers with the highest number of reviews at the top of the list and the average egg rating. When I saw that the average rating was high (4 or 5 eggs) and if it fell into my budget range (under $50) then I would look at the details of the case such as how many bays it had for optical drives and for hard drives. If it had more than two, I would look at the reviews and see if I noticed anything sticking out. The one that I picked had several things sticking out. It was rated at 4 eggs, it’s price was $30 (Wow… Okay) and it was reviewed by 156 people. 85 of the reviews were either 4 or 5 egg ratings (you have my undivided attention) containing 2 HDD bays and 2 optical bays (No problem, I can convert one of those optical drive bays into a hard drive, maybe both depending on what the future holds for it) and a place to put a SSD (Solid State Drive – Not likely to be put into this computer, but good to know, I can put a large laptop drive in there though). Then I started reading the reviews.

“Best tower that I ever worked with”

“I can’t believe you get this much quality for this price”

“No, it’s not as sturdy as my $150 case I purchased for my last build, but you know what? I’d pick it again because it’s a much better value.”

“It’s so easy to work with, cable management isn’t that difficult, plenty of room, and to be honest, it’s sharp looking too.”

Then I came to the one that really got my attention:

“It looked like a Lamborghini”.

… Um…. What?

I did a double read on it. Yep… The reviewer said “It looked like a Lamborghini”

Maybe I should take a closer look at this case. Sure I looked at it, it was black, I could see the drive doors so I knew that it would hold a DVD if I decided to put one in there… So I looked at it again. It.. uh… reminded me of a Lamborghini. It’s not that I wouldn’t have noticed the sharp lines, but to be honest, when I looked at it more closely, it looked more like Darth Vader’s mask with a cat head where the breather would be, but okay… Lamborghini… I see it too. Yes… It’s very sharp. It’s got a hint of red on the inside of the case with the fan, this is one very sharp case here!

Add to cart? “Hell YA!”

Power Supply

I did the same process on my power supply, set the max dollar amount that I would be willing to spend, I knew that my power usage wouldn’t be all that high, so I didn’t concern myself about it too much, just decided that I wanted something that would give me room to grow if need be. Looked at the number of reviews, the average egg readings and come across a 550 watt power supply that would do the trick. $30.

Add to cart? “Sure!”

Then I did something that I never planned on doing, I actually looked at the LED fans to install in this case, I mean, it looks so sharp, why not, right? Ultimately I decided not to do it, however, I did go back to the choices on my motherboard selections. My RAM was blue, for $1 more I could get some Red RAM instead. Silly, I know, but what the hell. Why not.

Bluray Burner

Picked this out because I need one for my Windows computer. $51.

I’m looking at my list knowing that I’m forgetting something, then realized that I’ve got no way to connect it to the internet. All of my ports are full on my router with Ethernet cables, even my Roku has to rely upon WiFi to stream, and it sits just inches away from the router too! I looked at hubs, I looked at several things, but decided that I was going to get me a WiFi card.

Now, I don’t encourage you to use WiFi for you to stream video with your Plex Server. It’s possible, I’ve done it several times with my laptop computer, but it does create some potential for problems, especially if you live in a home with several individuals using WiFi, which to be honest, I’m not in that category at all. But I do have a Linux Desktop that if it was connected to my LAN with a WiFi, it wouldn’t be that big of a deal, it’s mostly used for web surfing, some minor storage and writing documents. I do use it as a secondary Plex Server, but only because I was bored one day…. That would be the one to get the card. $18. Add to cart? Lets see…. Linux support… Yep, add to cart.

Grand total: $346.91

Plex suggests that at minimum you should have a 2 GHz dual core, with 2 GB of RAM 2.4 GHz will be enough to trans-code a full HD video of 1080p quality, I know that this will trans-code at bare minimum 2 HD videos, but seeing how my videos are in a format where trans-coding isn’t necessary with Roku, it should easily stream 3, 4 or even 5 videos if I ever need to do that many, but most important, it will have more than enough to convert that 1080p High quality video that I’m streaming from CBS.com when I watch Scorpion with no buffering!

The parts are ordered and on their way. ETA for delivery is this Friday, which means that I should be able to get to it next week. Haul everything to the south side of town and grab a 13 year old kid who thinks he knows what he’s doing, and put it together!

The Future

I’ve got plans for this computer. It’s powerful enough to do what I need it to do, and will be able to for some time I believe. If not, I can upgrade the CPU in it fairly easily.

Installing Ubuntu as my operating system gives me several options in the future, as well as the present. With Ubuntu, I’m able to easily set it up on my LAN network. This allows me to put it under a counter or in a back corner someplace where it will be out of the way. When I rip a DVD or Bluray I’ll be able to transfer the file over it as if I were putting it onto an external hard drive. With Ubuntu I can also install Mythbuntu, which is a DVR style program allowing me to record over the air TV on it just like you would with a TiVo, the only thing it needs is to have the software installed and a supported Digital TV tuner, a $120 purchase from Newegg…. Don’t think that I didn’t look hard at them, I did, but I just didn’t want to invest that much money into it right away, I’ve got my plate just a tad bit full right now, so I’ll wait till most likely this fall or even around Christmas. But once the videos are recorded onto the hard drive, all I’ll need to do is set up Plex to read that folder and I’ll be able to watch it on my Roku. Just a few minor adjustments to it.

But the thing that I’m most looking forward to trying with it is a bit torrent sync.

A concern that my brother and I have both had is that we both have a massive video library on DVD and Bluray. What we’ve always wanted to see if we could do is sync the libraries so that if his hard drive fails, which isn’t an unlikely scenario, I’ll have a back up of his videos on my server, as he would also have a backup of mine.

It’s currently a theory, but one that I think will actually work. We’ve talked about this for some time, our concerns about making backups of our videos. We’ve both worked for over two years to get our library built up, and it’s actually a very nice library, but neither one of us want to go through ripping each of them again.

I will be documenting this build and will be posting it here, but if you wish to go ahead and take one of your computers and install Plex just to play with it, may I suggest that you go to my Plex Pals Group on Facebook.  It’s got several fans of Plex who are more than willing to assist you in getting started.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/PlexPals/

Digital TV and Sub-channels

More to offer then you might remember!

The start of the 21st Century brought us some significant advancements to TV viewing.  Although digital TV had been around for some time, that is after all what DVD’s are, but the picture quality was improving vastly.

The FCC decided that they were going to require TV broadcasters to convert to a digital signal, and the result was a higher quality picture plus a new thing called ‘digital sub channels’.  With using a digital signal the broadcasters could actually put multiple digital TV channels on the same frequency that was previously used by the one analog channel…. with better picture quality.  Some of the more rural sections of the United States who carried multiple networks on the same channel (Often choosing prime time shows based on which was the most popular or which ones the majority of their viewers wanted) would now have two networks.  Some channels decided to have a 24 hour news/weather format as their digital network with replays of the local news and weather forecasts as well as Doppler radar playing, but by far the most popular was to find a commercial channel to broadcast.

In many ways some of these commercial channels would mimic the most popular cable TV channels.  MeTV, Antenna and RTV (Retro Television) would show popular programs from the 50’s-80’s in much the same way that Nick at Night or TV Land did.  Comet shows sci-fi programs, Grit is Movies and TV shows geared at men in the same manner as Spike.

There’s no real set pattern for who gets the subchannels.  In one city, the local CBS affiliate might have the MyTV, while in another it may be FOX.  Some will rebroadcast the local news on a digital sub channel after it’s been broadcast on the primary channel, some may just stick with the primary feed.  The point is, we now have a much larger selection than we had before with just analog TV channels.

Enter the DVR’s

One of the things that most people miss about their cable is the DVR, which I don’t blame them.  Having the ability to fast forward through commercials, the simple TV guide that all you needed to do was highlight the show you wanted to record, hit enter and ‘poof!  You’re done!’.

Don’t worry, you don’t need to give that up.

TiVo, the popular DVR of the 90’s is still around.  You may know them from several cable and satellite providers that used them as their DVR system, but they still continue to make devices for OTR (Over the air) recording.  Just connect an antenna and you’re set.  You do need to pay a monthly subscription fee to have the TV guide though.

Tablo is another option to choose from.  This DVR will not work on cable or satellite dishes, they have decided to specifically target the cord cutting market with providing a DVR capable of recording up to four channels at the same time with with some models.  Built in TV antennas with some select models, but they also have a ‘Roku Channel’ that you can install on your Roku.  This means that you can set up your Tablo in the living room, put a Roku in your bedroom and use your Roku to stream live TV, set up and record as well as watch any programs you have recorded.  You still need to pay a monthly fee for the TV guide support, but unlike TiVo, if you opt to not subscribe to that service, you can still use the Tablo as a DVR by manually entering in the channel, start and end times for the program you wish to record.

For the really adventurous…

MythTV and Mythbuntu is a DVR that you can build using a computer.  

You are going to find out that I use an operating system a lot called Ubuntu.  One of the things that I do is have a home server (a computer that has no other function but to hold files on) that I use to stream videos to my Roku.  Each of my DVD’s and Blurays are saved on this server and has a ‘Netflix’ like interface on it that shows what movies that I have.  Mythbuntu is a varient of the Ubuntu operating system which serves the purpose of recording video either from cable or antenna and saving them on a hard drive.  My goal is to build one of these in the next couple of years.

For most people, getting local programs can only be obtained by getting an antenna and having an antenna does not mean that you automatically give up having access to this luxury.  Yes, they are expensive, but they are also yours, so I would ask you, how long have you been paying your provider to rent their equipment?  5 years?  6? 8?  Owning a DVR will pay for itself about half of that time.  

Isn’t that illegal?

Private Channels on Roku

When you start getting into Roku you’ll start hearing the term “Private Channels” tossed around allot.  What is it, why do they have it.

First you need to understand a few things if you don’t have a Roku yet and that is when it comes to ‘Channels’ they are all located in the main menu of the Roku device.  When you power up your Roku all the channels you have installed are going to appear as Icons, but on the left side of your screen (see image above) you will have a menu, all the public channels are located in the ‘Streaming Channels’ category and you can install them from there.

Private channels are simply channels that you install that cannot be installed through the Roku directly, requiring you to go to your Roku account and manually enter the code to install the channel.

You would think that this creates a opportunity for piracy to run rampant with Roku, but the truth is that in my five plus years of owning one, I can count on one hand the number of pirate channels I’ve encountered.  They are very rare.

Believe me, I’ve looked for them.

I wont say that they don’t exists, I’ve seen them, I’ve spoken to people that have or have had a desire to create them, but just like every other criminal element, when you break the law, your biggest desire is to keep a low profile.  So pirate channels are difficult to find.

So why have Private Channels?

The purpose of having private channels is for multiple reasons.  If you read my posting about Religion and Roku, I said that pornography cannot be made available through the device, so all porn channels are ‘private channels’.  (Keep in mind, we’re talking legality here, not morality and like it or not, Porn is legal in most areas)

But the majority of all Roku private channels fall into one of three categories.

Test or Beta Channels

When KDOV created their own Roku channel, for about three or four months before it was made public, they had posted the code and instructions for installation on their website as well as mentioned it in their broadcast.  KDOV, in case you didn’t read about it in my previous post, is a low power Christian TV/Radio channel in Medford, Oregon.  Even in the City of Medford very few people knew about them having a TV side because the power was so weak, but advertising it gave the regular listeners and viewers an opportunity to help them ensure the channel was up and running properly before making it available to the general public.  When I spoke to the IT person a about a year after they had their channel up, he told me that some of the viewers had caught things that had been overlooked before the channel was submitted.  

You will find that this is quite common.  If you are a regular follower of a specific blogger, YouTube submitter or someone else who has decided to create a Roku channel, they will often make their channel available to their regular followers prior to making it available to the general public to ensure that everything is all up and running nice.  I myself have made several channels, one of which was created for my Church and asked people to look it over to give feedback on it’s looks, loading time and other things that could help me iron out the channel to ensure that I’m presenting the best channel possible.

Corporate Videos

I’ve read from some sources that many large multi-state and multi nation corporations make a ‘Corporate’ channel that they place training and other relevant videos on so that they can be viewed. Of course these cannot be tracked by me, but I do find it highly likely that if a corporation decides to do this, it would be done.  It’s a very cheap and efficient means to provide videos in this manner.  

Because it’s possible and fun

Some things you do just because it’s fun.  You upload your videos to YouTube (which you can use to host your videos) and you make a private channel you share with your friends and family.  MKV X Stream is a popular website to go to that you can submit your private channel to and they will share it with the Roku community.  I myself have used it and because of them a channel that I created a few years ago got up to 3000 plus subscribers.  All perfectly legal and just for an opportunity to play around with other aspects of Roku.  The things that I learned with my playing made my official submission for a public channel go much faster and smoother then it would have gone without it.  One other aspect of this is that some people just don’t wish to go through the hassle of submitting the channel to Roku to be reviewed.  They know that websites like MKV X Stream exists and that they would get nearly as many viewers from making it known there as they would by making it public.  

But if porn is available as a private channel how do I know my kid wont access it?

Two things you need to understand about Roku to understand how it works.

1.  When you purchase a Roku, you need to go online to the Roku website and create an account.  Only then when you have created the account will it allow you to use it.
2. Every time you go to the Roku Website you will be required to put in a password to have access to your account.  No password, no ability to install a private channel on your Roku.

The advantage of this system is that you will have control over the device and what can or cannot be put on it.  Another advantage is that if you decide to purchase multiple Roku’s then whatever channel is installed on one Roku will be found on all of them within 24 hours.  It does not matter if the Roku is in your home or not, it’s going to be available on all of them.

I own three Roku devices, my first Roku (Roku LT) I purchased over five years ago.  I liked it so much that I purchased a second one to place in my bedroom (Roku XD).  When I moved I gave my Roku LT to a friend of mine (reset to factory settings removing everything that I had installed and removing it from my Roku account) so that she wouldn’t need to connect her laptop to her television to watch Netflix anymore.

When I got all moved and settled I decided to try the Roku stick and purchased it.  When the third generation of Roku devices came out (distinguished by it’s 1, 2, 3 designation) I opted to try the Roku 2.

Having only one TV now, I have my other two Roku’s out on loan to friends so that they can try them out and let them know that it’s still attached to my account and whatever they install I will see.  They cant log onto my Roku account, so they cant install private channels without going through me.

Copyright

Even in the case of Private Channels, Roku can and has in the past, closed down channels that have been found to be in violation of any copyright laws, so if they receive a complaint about a violation they can and will close it down so if and when they do pop up they generally don’t last very long.  

Religion on Roku

I hear it a lot, “Why are their so many religious programs on the Roku?”

The simple answer is “because it’s affordable to do it.”

I get a lot of criticism for what I’m going to say next, but history has shown it to be true.  When it comes to taking advantage of modern technology, there are two different segments of all societies that advances it.  Christianity and Porn.  When the printing press was first developed, the one big major contributor to take advantage of it were people who printed the Bible, the second group to take advantage of what it had to offer was the porn industry.  Same with pictures, video and the internet.

Roku will not promote any material that provides pornography on the device, I wont say that it’s not available, but Roku wont promote it through the device.  If porn is to be had on the Roku, you can only do it if you have the access to the Roku creator account, so no kids can get access to it without your knowledge.  Religious material on the other hand is free to be placed up for the general public to be seen and have access.

I’m going to be honest, I’m a Christian, as in ‘Bible believing, attend each and every Sunday morning gave my life to the Lord and been baptized” Christian.  In fact, I got involved with TV production a few years ago and when I got involved with this Church that I attend now my pastor asked me how hard it would be to record his Sunday Sermons and put them up on the Church Website.  It’s easy.  I already had most of the tools that I needed for editing, he provided the video camera so if you go to my churches website  you will find about a years worth of sermons recorded, most of them recorded and edited by me.  If you’re a Christian I only need to say “The Great Commission” and you’ll know why I love being involved in that aspect of our ministry, but if you’re not, to say it simply, Jesus tells Christians that we are to go about spreading the message that he has left.

Our Church has a Roku channel, it was more or less implied when I began doing this that it would be my ultimate goal to see to it that a Channel was created for the Church.  Our grand total out of pocket to have this channel?  $5 per month.  I’m working at getting that down so that it won’t cost us anything.  99% of the tools and requirements that I needed to create a Roku channel the Church had long before I started attending and the Church leadership was gracious enough to grant me access to it so that I could utilize it for the ministry.  The Church Roku channel was started right around Thanksgiving and each sermon that has been recorded is available on it and the videos that we have posted has actually caused a few people to try our Church, so we know that it’s being viewed.

I bring this up because Roku has a whole category dedicated to “Religion”. As I stated in my original post, content is king on Roku and there is no shortage of content regarding Christianity.  Just as I stated in my previous post regarding what’s available, this too has caused me a great amount of grief because I don’t know what to include and what to leave out.

I’m just going to give you a few highlights:

I don’t care what your ‘religion’ is.  Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Islam, Buddhist or anything else, most likely you will find something on Roku to watch that reflects your faith.

If you are a Christian, I don’t care what your denomination is.  Catholic, Seventh Day Adventist, Baptist, non-denominational, Church of Christ or Episcopalian, again I can say with complete conviction that you will find something that reflects your faith.

Christianity on Roku

Several well known evangelical and denomination channels are available including Billy Graham Ministries and Jimmy Swaggart not to mention all of them in between.  Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) has a live channel that not only gives you access to the traditional TBN TV channel, but ones directed at Arabic and Spanish speaking people as well.  They also provide on demand videos of their more popular programs and movies, I’ve watched Fireproof, Flywheel and Facing the Giants utilizing their on demand service as well as other movies.  Gospel Broadcasting Network (GBN), Dove Network, Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) and TCT are all available to watch all of them providing live material as well as on demand programming.  TCT, for example, has a daily program called Faith in History hosted by William Federer which I watch nearly every week.

Here are a couple channels that are relatively unknown that I believe should be getting more viewers then it does.

The Dove

I’m going to highlight a particularly special channel to me that’s on Roku called “The Dove” going by the call letters KDOV based in Medford, OR.  It’s a low power TV channel that started as a radio station and Perry Atkinson, someone that I consider a dear friend, leads this small group of people that run this channel.  5 days a week they do two morning shows that gives local and national news then they do a 1 hour program immediately afterwords where they interview people regarding local or national interests.  Each of their daily programs are available on demand as well as ‘live’.  They also provide other quality Christian programs like Wretched TV and Give Me An Answer.  If you have not seen these programs, you’re missing out.

Genesis Science Network

Another channel that I think is worth some recognition is GSN.  Started by David Reeves Ministries and made available on Roku about a year ago, Genesis Science Network looks at all the Sciences through Biblical lenses with programs designed to speak to toddlers and old men and women while covering all the ages between.  I cannot say enough about the channels that are available on Roku that is geared to strengthen  your faith, and this one is a leader of the pack.  

In Conclusion.

If for no other reason, I would encourage you to get a Roku just on the quality programming to spread the Gospel and help people grow in their faith and walk as well.  If you cant find something that you believe needs to be covered, create it yourself.  There’s no excuse not to.  If your church has a website, 99% of what you need is right there at your fingertips, so contact me and I will give you some useful instructions and guidance on what to do regardless of your personal faith and religion.

What Roku has to Offer!

This is probably the hardest to write, not because I cant find anything, but because I don’t know where to begin or what to include, what to exclude.  There really is that much to write about.

Basics

Netflix, Hulu and Amazon are the three staples to choose from.  In case you didn’t know all three of these providers offers more programming than you could ever watch.  In fact, all three providers could keep you busy on their own.  But watching TV isn’t just about watching TV, it’s about watching TV that you actually enjoy.  

All three services are common on your Bluray player or Smart TV, and to be perfectly honest, if you were to subscribe to these services you’ll find enough to keep your average day to day TV viewing at home satisfied, but they are the staples of ‘cutting the cord’ so to speak and they need to be mentioned.  I will add this, and perhaps you’ll fall into this catagory, perhaps you wont.  Very few people have all three services, and the reason is that when you get Netflix and Hulu, you have access to about 90% of whats on Amazon.  Same goes with Amazon and Hulu, you will see that a lot of what you’re watching can be seen on Netflix.  Of course if you have two services, you are going to have some programs you’ll find on both (Netflix and Hulu both has Star Trek) but when you get all three, you will see that it’s over kill.  

Some do choose to get all three, and after paying close to $200 a month for cable, to get all three is a savings!

HBO Now, Showtime and other popular premium cable movie channels are available on Roku without a subscription to cable.  All the TV Networks offers a Roku channel which makes material that was broadcast last week available this week if you get the free service, if you have a cable subscription you can get tonight’s shows tomorrow.

Many cable networks like History offers Roku channels.  I personally have been an avid History Channel watcher for years and was elated when they made History available on Roku.  Granted, the content was limited without a cable subscription but still had more than enough to keep me happy, but History is hardly alone in this.  In fact even cable networks are beginning to make cable channels available on Roku without a subscription to my local cable company.  Beginning this week I can have a History Channel giving me full access to what it has to offer for $5 a month (I may end up getting it before the end of the year because I enjoy the History channel that much).

Several popular Cable networks offer Roku channels allow you to log in with your Cable information to get access to it, but even now more and more cable networks are beginning to see the benefit of making their material available on Roku.

But don’t think you need cable TV to get good viewing.  In fact, even if you don’t wish to subscribe to anything at all you will find some quality channels like Crackle, Tubi TV, Shout Factory all offering popular TV shows from the 50’s through the 90’s that you may enjoy watching as well as movies that have been released within the past couple of years as well as some well known classics.

To find out whats available you can even go to these websites here:

Crackle Tubi TV Shout Factory TV

If you’re into documentaries, Smithsonian Channel provides some very high quality documentaries for free.

ABC, NBC, FOX and PBS all offer Roku channels giving you access to prime time material after its been broadcast ranging from the following day to one week later.  CBS gives you access to its programs for a small fee.

News from local channels in major markets to national and international from well known and trusted sources can be found free of charge.  Even if you were to never invest a single penny into getting a premium service, you can still find material to watch on Roku and very few other streaming devices offer that kind of flexibility, but on Roku it continues to grow each year.  When I got my first Roku in 2010, Netflix and Hulu were the only real offerings, now it’s not uncommon for me to go an entire month without accessing any of the Premium services that I have access to.  HBO Go, Showtime Anytime, Starz Now, encore Now, Amazon, Hulu, Netflix.  Sharing login info with family members to get the biggest bang for your buck isn’t uncommon with Roku, even Netflix has acknowledged that it happens and has publicly stated that it does not care even though other streaming services have stated that they consider it a concern.  One speculation is that Netflix realizes that at $8 or so per month, if you share your logon information with your parents or children you are less likely to cancel it if you think that other family members are using it.  I suspect that they are correct, I have access to all of my family members logon info as they have to mine.  Periodically when I wonder if I should really continue to use it I can see that someone (I wont know who) has watched a movie on Starz letting me know that even though I’ve not watched it for a few weeks, someone has been.  Some services will kick you off requiring you to log back in every few months and just recently I had been contacted by a family member to ask for my logon info because it had recently occurred to them.

Knowing this is a hell of an incentive to keep it longer.

Now to be brutally honest.  Most of the channels on Roku are crap.  They are public domain movies that are very poor quality, but this is where ingenuity of the population comes in.  One channel that I really enjoy is “Superhero 101”.  It’s a channel that shows public domain movies that features some sort of ‘hero’ but between movies the ‘hostess’ shows up on the screen dressed in a Wonder Woman style outfit to introduce the next video and a little information about it.  Prior to the commercials playing she will return with her ‘sister’ dressed in a likewise fashion and do battle with their arch nemesis of this particular round.  Yes, it’s poor quality, no it’s not ‘tasteless’ in any way, but it is funny.  In fact if you’re familiar with the USA Network in the early 80’s when it was originally getting it’s start, it’s reminiscent of that.  People having fun.  You will find several channels of this nature available on Roku, and as much as I tout about the Crackles for free content and the Netflix’s for premium content, its very cool to just slow down, play around with your Roku and see what’s available.  You’ll be surprised at what you’ll find and even more surprised at what you’ll enjoy.