therokuchannel.roku.com
If you reside in the United States, it is safe to say that you have at least heard of Roku; I would wager that you have used or even owned one of their devices in the past. As one of the first companies to make streaming widely accessible in America, Roku has played a pivotal role in helping to grow the streaming industry into a multibillion dollar industry today.
Today, streaming services are practically mandatory for businesses and television networks alike. This can be seen by the recent surge in new streaming sites, such as NBC's Peacock, HBO Max, Disney Plus, etc. (the list goes on and on and on). This trend looks set to continue, judging by the number of companies and TV networks announcing their own streaming services. It would seem that everyone is gunning for a piece of the streaming site pie.
Roku has announced plans to create its own live TV streaming service. It is the logical move given that Roku already has millions of people around the world using their devices to access other streaming apps like Netflix and Hulu.
Roku launched The Roku Channel, which is an ad-supported live TV streaming site that 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 from the moment you visit the site.
The Roku Channel is an excellent free live TV streaming site. It is easily one of the best on the web today. I have been using it for a long time and it has never let me down.
Now, as I'm using the phrase "free live TV streaming site" somewhat loosely here, it's not because The Roku Channel does not let you stream live TV for free. I'm only saying this because the channels featured here don't align with their official live TV counterparts. With Roku, you'll find plenty of familiar cable channels, but they are Pluto TV versions of these channels' programming and not the official programming of the channels themselves.
You can tune into live broadcasts of, say, Comedy Central on The Roku Channel whenever you wish, 24 hours a day. However, the schedule of programming on The Roku Channel is not the same schedule that you would be able to watch on the official Comedy Central cable network. So, enjoying live events or watching the live airing of your favorite TV show unfortunately won?t be possible with The Roku Channel. Nonetheless, you do get a lot of free live TV here!
Aside from the ability to stream live TV for free, the Roku Channel also has a large and ever-changing collection of on-demand TV shows and movies. These titles are generally available for a limited time after they are added, and buying the rights to these movies and TV shows allows The Roku Channel to provide high-quality content at an affordable price - making it possible for the free streaming site to remain that way.
So, is the Roku Channel the best free live TV streaming site on the web? Well, there is only one way to find out for sure. Let's take a tour of The Roku Channel, check out everything it has to offer and find out once and for all.
Design
The Roku Channel offers a standard streaming site design that is immediately recognizable to anyone who has used a premium streaming service in the past. This is because, for the most part, The Roku Channel has emulated the iconic designs of streaming services like Netflix and Hulu.
At the top of the page, you will see an extra-large banner advertising a featured movie or show. The banner will direct your attention to a title that is slated to expire soon and will no longer be available for streaming for free. Scroll down a bit further, and you will find collections of Movies and TV series organized by content type. Each horizontal catalog can be browsed via a side-scrolling mechanism, resulting in an intuitive and user-friendly browsing experience.
Keep scrolling to find more categories: new this month, recommended for you, live TV, popular on the Roku channel, and more. In a move that is family-friendly, The Roku Channel features a list of favorite children's entertainment characters, allowing kids to browse content by their favorite character. This long list of categories and various ways to browse content continues until eventually you reach the bottom of the page.
Interestingly enough, The Roku Channel does not have a site menu bar. This may either be loved or hated. On the one hand, it does lend the site a bit of a sleek look. On the other hand, well, site menu bars are so common for a good reason: they make browsing as easy as possible. The end result is that you will have to do a lot of scrolling in order to find the genre or kind of content you are looking for. However, if you know exactly what you want to watch, you can always type it into the search bar at the top of the site.
Content and Features
The Roku Channel offers a sleek, comprehensive live TV streaming experience that is more impressive than some of the most popular premium live TV streaming sites. If you are looking for a free live TV streaming site that is as robust as it is well designed, The Roku Channel is the right place.
The first feature that really stands out for me is the Picture-In-Picture feature that makes for the perfect free live TV streaming experience. This is ideal, of course, for when one show is on a commercial break, and there is something else that you are also interested in watching? 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 history to make it easy to track down that surprising show you randomly watched. Plus, if you have to switch devices while watching a stream, the history will take you right where you left off.
Mobile and Desktop Experience
Yes, The Roku Channel is available as a mobile app. 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? Although the mobile app falls short in comparison to the desktop and TV app experiences, it does have some big shoes to fill, seeing as the former 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
The Roku Channel is a live TV streaming site that is both free and premium-upgrade ready.
Conclusion
The Roku Channel is, without a doubt, one of the best free live TV streaming sites on the web. This user-friendly site design is cross-platform, making it available on both desktop and mobile devices. Plus, there is a broad selection of channels and on-demand content to choose from, making The Roku Channel an unbeatable choice for streaming live TV. So come read my full review today to learn more!
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