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.

My First Post!

Let me start off by saying thank you for coming and reading my blog.  It is intended to be a tool to help you with Roku and how to get the most of it.

What is Roku?

Roku, simply put, is a very small computer that you can hook up to your TV set that allows you to watch video or listen to audio that is available via the internet.  

That being said, there are two very important things that you’re going to need to get the most out of Roku, in fact, without them you’re dead in the water.

1. A TV
2. Internet with WiFi.

There are several models to choose from ranging from the very budget based Roku 1 at $50 to the elaborate Roku 4 at $140, but regardless of which model you choose it will pay for itself in a very short period of time.

Can Roku really replace cable?

So over the course of my six years playing with Roku, I’ve come to the conclusion that ‘replace’ may be taken out of context.  Think of it this way, “Roku can be an alternative to cable”, and yes, it not only can, but be quite amazing in doing it.

Roku may not be for you.  If you are the type of individual who needs to watch the latest episode of “The Walking Dead” every week, or the NASCAR race is a must have, I’m going to admit, Roku isn’t for you.  With the exception of the last Superbowl, watching nearly   any sporting event on the Roku was difficult.  Especially the cornerstone of American Sports like Baseball, Football, Basketball and you could count any live race out too, but I’m beginning to see a transition in this where sporting events will become more readily available to various streaming platforms, including Roku.  It may be a couple more years before it becomes common place, but I’m beginning to see patterns that lead me to believe that it’s happening.

So why Roku over other devices like Apple TV?

Five very good reasons, here they are in order:

1. Ease of use
2. Price
3. Content
4. Content
5. Content

Ease of use:

Roku is very simplistic in set-up and use.  My first encounter with it was that it was too simple.  It’s no harder to connect to your TV set than your Bluray or DVD player, and no harder to connect to your WiFi than your laptop computer or smart phone.  Once it’s connected, to find and select the channels that you want to install on it is no harder then using the Red box kiosk at your local grocery store.  But in the world of online streaming, ease of use isn’t that big of a deal.  Apple TV and Google Chromcast are both easy to use.

Price:

The Roku has a wide selection of devices to choose from and as stated above, they range from the budget priced Roku 1 and Roku Stick all the way up to the top of the line Roku 4.  With this current line of Roku devices you have no less selection of material to choose from then you do any other Roku.  The Roku 1 will give you access to the exact same material that the Roku 4 will.  The only exception is that with the Roku 4 you will get 4K quality video on select channels.

The features that each device offers will vary and the speed in which the device goes from channel to channel (amount of time that it takes to load Netflix or any other channel from the home screen) will vary with Roku 1 and Stick taking the longest and Roku 4 taking the shortest.

This give it a huge advantage over Apple TV.

Content:

On Roku, content is king.  There is no shortage of material to watch on Roku, be it with or without a subscription.  We’ll talk about that in my next blog.

The reason why is actually rather simple.  You, the average individual, can create your own Roku channel.  It’s actually rather easy, I myself have created several channels which you can install and enjoy.  I didn’t need to ask for Roku’s permission, or even pay them a fee to submit it.  You can make a private channel which can be accessed by only those who you give the access code too, or you can make a public channel which will be available to install through the Roku’s menu itself.  Those you need to submit to Roku to get ‘authorized’ but the process is actually quite simple and painless.  You submit the channel, they make sure that it works, that it loads up in a timely manner and it does not contain any pornographic material.  That’s it.

What does that mean for you?  That means that you can create a private Roku channel for your friends and family only or even create a channel based upon your own personal hobbies, skills and interests for the general public to enjoy, and this means you have access to literally thousands of channels created by individuals who wishes to share them.  It also means that it’s an incentive for both low and high level production studios to create channels to show their content to people.

Content is king on the Roku, and it’s all right there in your grasp, most of it without any additional charges.

Next?  What’s available on the Roku.