therokuchannel.roku.com
If you live in the United States, there's a good chance you've used or even owned a Roku device. In fact, Roku was one of the first companies to make streaming widely accessible in the US, and their devices play a pivotal role in growing the streaming industry into the multibillion-dollar global industry it is today.
These days, of course, every company and TV network must have its own streaming service. This is evidenced by the influx of new streaming sites that have popped up over the last few years- like NBC's Peacock, HBO Max, Disney Plus, etc. (the list goes on and on and on). This trend, by the way, shows no signs of slowing down. Everybody wants a piece of the streaming site pie; it would seem.
As Roku itself has already amassed a large user base around the world accessing other streaming services like Netflix and Hulu, it makes sense for them to create their own live TV streaming service.
And so, Roku did just that when they launched The Roku Channel. Unlike many of their competitors, though, The Roku Channel does not require its viewers to own a device or pay a monthly subscription fee. A certain amount of content on The Roku Channel is instantly free, with no ads or delays. Instead of going the premium TV streaming route, The Roku Channel opted in to become an ad-supported live TV streaming site.
It can be hard to find a good free live TV streaming site. I've spent a lot of time looking for one, and I've found only a few. The Roku Channel is one of the best I've found. It's easy to use on my Roku Smart TV and on my laptop.
Now, in case there was any confusion, I am using the phrase "free live TV streaming site" somewhat loosely here. I don't say this because The Roku Channel doesn't let you stream live TV for free. I'm only saying this because the channels featured here don't align with the schedules of their official live TV counterparts. You'll find plenty of familiar cable channels on Roku, but they're the Pluto TV versions of these channels' programming and not the official programming of the channels themselves.
Basically, you can watch Comedy Central programming on The Roku Channel any time you like, 24 hours a day. However, the channel's schedule is not exactly the same as what you would see on Comedy Central's official cable network. So, if you want to watch live events or watch your favorite TV show airing live, unfortunately this is not possible with The Roku Channel. However, it's great that you can get access to a lot of free live TV here!
Aside from being able to watch free live TV, The Roku Channel also has a sizeable collection of on-demand TV series and movies available. The Roku Channel?s selection of free TV shows and movies is constantly in flux, and most titles are available for a limited time after they are added (sometimes the availability span can be as short as a few days). This way allows The Roku Channel to provide quality movies and TV shows at a cheap enough rate for the free TV streaming site to remain that way.
The Roku Channel is a great free live TV streaming site; let's take a tour and see what it has to offer.
Design
The Roku Channel offers a site design that is fairly standard for streaming sites. Anyone who has used a premium streaming service in the past will immediately recognize and be able to navigate this one without any trouble. This is because, for the most part, it looks like The Roku Channel has copied the designs of popular streaming services like Netflix and Hulu.
When you reach the top of the page, you'll see an extra-large banner advertising a featured movie or show. Sometimes, this banner will direct your attention to a title that is slated to expire soon (and will no longer be available to stream for free). Scroll down a bit further and you'll find a series of collections that are organized by content type. Each horizontal catalog of movies and TV series can be browsed via a side-scrolling mechanism, which makes it very intuitive and user-friendly to browse.
Scroll down to find more categories on the Roku Channel: New This Month, Recommended for You, Live TV, Popular on the Roku Channel, and more. In a family-friendly move, The Roku Channel even features a list of popular children's entertainment characters. Kids can browse content by their favorite character on this list of categories and various ways to browse content. This list of categories and various ways to browse content continues for a very long time until you reach the bottom of the page.
Interestingly, The Roku Channel does not have a site menu bar. This feature either many people love or hate. On one hand, it does give the site a sleeker look. However, on the other hand, site menu bars are common for a reason- they make browsing easy. The end result is that you will have to scroll a lot to find what you are looking for. However, if you know what you want to watch, you can type it into the search bar at the top of the site.
Content and Features
If you're looking for a free live TV streaming site that's as robust as it is well designed, you've come to the right place with The Roku Channel. Its sleek interface and features list beat out some of the most popular premium live TV streaming sites I've reviewed.
The first thing that stands out to me is the picture-in-picture feature, which makes for an ideal free live TV streaming experience. This is great, of course, for when one show is on a commercial break, and you want to watch something else? Why should you have to miss out and constantly be switching back and forth between channels, right? Thanks to The Roku Channel's PIP feature, you don't have to. This is one of the coolest (and most useful) features that I have ever seen on a free live TV streaming site.
The Roku Channel records your watching habits and makes it easy to find that show you randomly watched. Plus, if you have to switch devices mid-stream, the history is automatically carried over.
Mobile and Desktop Experience
Yes, the Roku Channel is available as a mobile device. Available on both Android and iOS devices, the Roku Channel's free live TV streaming app has received a mixed bag of reviews. Some people seem to love it, while others cannot stand it. My assessment? The mobile app has some big shoes to fill, seeing as the desktop and TV app experience both set the bar so very high. Nevertheless, if streaming live TV for free on your mobile device is important to you, The Roku Channel will certainly get you there.
Pricing and Plans
If you're looking for a free live TV streaming site, the Roku Channel is definitely worth checking out! It's also ready to be upgraded to a premium service if you want more features and flexibility.
Conclusion
The Roku Channel is one of the best live TV streaming sites on the web. It has an incredibly user-friendly site design, cross-platform availability, and a broad selection of channels and on-demand content. If you're looking for a place to stream live TV for free, look no further than The Roku Channel!
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