Channels & viewing

[calipete]

Here is a more specific link:

https://blog.roku.com/developer/beta-channels

Aside from many dubious channels, Roku is also ditching a number of great channels that they have simply decided to not cooperate with, such as VidAngel. More info available at https://vidangelsupport.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4423777885069-FAQ-for-VidAngel-Roku-users

Good luck!

[stiches]

How's that stock price today. Big old speck of dust. LOL

[Strega]

Yeah, the supposedly forward-looking stock market is an amazing thing.  Roku stock shot up because we'd all be staying home forever, and then, oops, there are vaccines.  Like no one saw that coming.  But Roku is still priced well above where it was 5 years ago, so long term investors should still be pretty happy.  Short term investors in all those Pandemic stocks like Roku and Netflix may have learned an investing lesson.

[JZBolt]

Roku is moving toward only allowing channels that will produce income for Roku per view on their network.  That income production wasn't happening with the private channels.  Roku wasn't getting a cut so they decided to cancel those channels and make you chose pay channels or channels with commercials.  It's not as noble a move as Roku would like for you to think it is.  Notice all the ads that you have to suffer through now for all channels you don't have to pay for when a few years back you didn't.  It's all about the money but what Roku doesn't get is about half their business comes from adults who wanted to be able to view adult material because... well... they are adults and pay the bills.  In the next few years there will be another platform that will accept anyone who is unhappy with Roku's business policies and allow adult material.  Roku doesn't have a monopoly on streaming and experts predict a sharp drop in their stock value.  They went public in 2017.  Roku will go the Verizon route and lose probably 40-50 % of their business to other platforms/providers since they won't have that edge on the market anymore. Until then Apple TV and Fire Stick and the like will be on a level playing field and will most likely see increases in their stock values.  

[dbrueck]

I've been using Roku since mid-2008 and have owned just about every model. To my kids, Roku is just how you watch TV. From the very beginning, Roku almost perfectly addressed the problem of getting video from a variety of sources onto a TV screen - in that space, few devices have just worked the way Roku devices have.

These past few months I've watched nervously as Roku has gotten into spats with companies like Google. I understand the desire to be more than just the hardware, but these disagreements with companies always leave me unsettled because it's about things I *don't* care about but can affect me anyway: I don't use the various search mechanisms that Roku provides and I don't care about who gets listed first or gets advertising space on the Roku home screen, but I *do* sit up and take notice when channels I use get pulled from the channel store because of these disputes.

A few weeks ago Roku announced that it is dropping support for private/unpublished channels. Unfortunately for me, this is the straw that breaks the camel's back, because Roku's channel approval process is sometimes pretty opaque: a channel will be submitted for review, but they'll reject it without really going into detail as to why. Previously you could still have unofficial apps and just install them yourselves - a clunky but acceptable compromise - but the new policy change effectively boots those channels off the platform completely.

Between Roku using channels I care about as bargaining chips and Roku shutting down unpublished channels without having a better channel publishing process, I can't help but feel like Roku has lost sight of what made it good in the first place.

Today I ordered some Chromecasts (only $30 apiece!) and as soon as they arrive, I'll be swapping out my Rokus and not looking back. It makes me sad that Google (of all companies!!) now offers a better solution, and I'm going to miss Roku, but I'm tired of being Roku's leverage - I just want to watch what I want to watch.

[DBDukes]

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@dbrueck wrote:

... Today I ordered some Chromecasts (only $30 apiece!) and as soon as they arrive, I'll be swapping out my Rokus and not looking back. It makes me sad that Google (of all companies!!) now offers a better solution, and I'm going to miss Roku, but I'm tired of being Roku's leverage - I just want to watch what I want to watch.

---

The $30 Chromecast devices require a separate device to operate. It does not have a remote. It does not have an interface. It is a passive device that is controlled by a separate device such as a phone. You find the content you want on your phone's app, then after you start playing it, you "cast" it to your Chromecast.

What's actually happening is the Chromecast (the $30 one) has the app and will launch its version of the app, launch the content, then move to the same place in the content and start playing. It stays in communication with your phone (or whatever device) and uses it as the remote for pause, rewind, fast forward, etc.

The $50 Chromecast with Google TV may be a better option. It has a remote and an interface (Google TV). It operates like a Roku does. You use the remote to navigate the menu system of the device. Oh, and you can also use it just like the cheaper Chromecast as well. You don't lose that functionality, which can be helpful at times. But it is also a standalone device that doesn't require a phone to operate.

[dbrueck]

Yep, I actually have one of the Google TV ones as well, though I don't mind the remoteless ones since we often lose the remote anyway. Good point to mention both options though!

[Sugarking]

@DBDukes Pornhub can't get certified though, due to adult content. But honestly people have every right to be mad at roku for the decision. Just because you don't use the adult channels or don't like them, doesn't mean they should be removed forever. Everything was good the way it was, and the content was hard for younger people to get to, there was no harm done.

Now roku wants to punish tons of people for doing something that's completely legal and legitimate. The people have the right to be angry and complain to roku for poor service and making foolish decisions.

[wildsprite]

that isn't a very good analogy, if you bought Roku devices for a service they never officially supported and actually said many times in warnings that it could be removed at any time you really were expecting more than you paid for. Roku didn't remove your precious channels specifically. they removed the entire Private Unsupported app store. you want to know why. well we can deduce why. you see many of the channels in that private channel store were violations in some countries. I get it, you want your adult channels back. well. flood Roku with the suggestions to add a adult section accessed by a pin. trust me if enough people do that you will see adult channels appear. just don't expect them to be accessible without a pin.

[wildsprite]

my question to that is does porn apply to their "adult" terms. Vidangel has tried to get their channel certified only to be refused without Roku so much as telling them anything as to why. I have little doubt Pornhub will get the same treatment.