Posted on 10/15/2017 12:19:35 PM PDT by V K Lee
Roku just took its first step into programming with the launch of a free movie channel it’s calling the Roku Channel. Thanks to a series of licensing deals, Roku’s channel will feature movies from major Hollywood studios like Lionsgate, MGM, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Warner Bros., Variety reports.
The Roku Channel’s available films, like Legally Blonde and The Karate Kid, are easy to find elsewhere, but this is the first time the company has licensed a large number of movies for a Roku-branded channel. "The Roku Channel is definitely a channel"
This move is likely part of Roku’s plan to grow its user base and ad business ahead of its IPO. Unlike Amazon or Apple, which make hardware and video content, Roku has, until now, mostly stuck to selling hardware, like streaming boxes and video sticks. As Variety points out, the only other channel operated by Roku previously was one meant to showcase its devices’ 4K capabilities.
Still, the Roku Channel is just licensed content, not originals, which will allow Roku to continue to host streaming competitors like Amazon Instant Video and Netflix, whose original series are often quarantined from other services.
Roku says the channel will roll out in phases “over the coming weeks.”
(Excerpt) Read more at theverge.com ...
Bill Wilson - October 13, 2017
Every week, we’ll be putting together a list of free
movies to watch on The Roku Channel. Features this week
include a Tom Cruise thriller, a John Wayne classic, and a must-see comedy featuring unlikely an crime syndicate of Diane Keaton, Queen Latifah and Katie Holmes.
Another reason to cut your cable. So long as the movies are uncut, I can deal with the commercials.
Thank you. Need to link to that blog as I just deleted a ton of useless apps on ROKU.
I read there aren’t any parental controls on it, except to remove the channel altogether.
Most ads we can deal with. Others are best left in the sewer in which they were made....we know what those might be.
I’ll check it out.
And 4 minutes of commercials for every 10 minutes of programming. I’ve found the “free” channels on ROKU to be garbage. I wish that wasn’t the case but it was in my experience.
I like that they play the movie first, rather than 5 minutes of “your movie will begin after these messages”
I immediately switch off any movie channels that start with commercials.
Not a LOT of content yet, and they do have commercials but they seem very unobtrusive so far.
Roku let XTV exist to boost sales then banned them just before they brought their own channel out. Miss my XTV. Probably sold half a dozen units for them due to XTV.
Meanwhile, I've been using Terrarium TV on the Amazon Firestick. They also have commercials but they are less than a minute long and only at the end of the program.
I have tried Crackle and several other ‘ad supported’ streaming sites. They became more trouble than they were worth.
Well into the movie, one of the ad breaks would stall out. Nothing would load — not movie, not commercial. I would have to exit the program. When I tried to restart the movie at the location of the previous stall, it would run 10 or more commericals and stall out again.
I would rather pay $11 for Netflix and $99/year for Amazon Prime and not mess with commercials breaks. The ad-based technology has too many problems.
That gives us so much to stream that it is overwhelming at times. Anyway that's what we do also.
I have tried Crackle and several other ‘ad supported’ streaming sites. They became more trouble than they were worth.
Yep. Although She Wolf of the SS was probably worth the trouble on Crackle. LOL.
“And 4 minutes of commercials for every 10 minutes of programming. I’ve found the “free” channels on ROKU to be garbage. I wish that wasn’t the case but it was in my experience.”
ditto. and the ads are not skippable. if you try to skip, then the “free” movie resets to the beginnng, a la “crackle” channel.
i could care less if shite is “free” if they force me to waste some of my few precious remaining hours of life having crap forced down my throat. you get what you pay for, and i’m willing to pay a few extra dollars for ZERO ADS!
so if the roku “free” channel has non-skippable ads, i won’t give it a second look. ever.
Any links to Kodi connections?
Most of the ones I can find on search engines have died :/
Is there an underground, or something?
Yeah, I browsed the movies on the new channel. Not impressed so far.
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