As I trod ever closer to cutting the cable, I picked up a Roku this weekend. What are the good apps/channels? I’ve only played with it for a little while but I found the Roku channel Pluto Tubi and a couple others that were easily found. Are there any others that have normal TV channels? Do I need to go ahead and just bite the bullet and get YouTube TV? I’ve heard they’ve gone up on the price a couple of times. Is it still worth it or are there other alternatives like Hulu TV?

I know there are a bunch of cutting the cable threads so Im mainly looking for suggestions on what apps and channels I need to add to get the full Roku experience, preferably free. Any other tips or advice is appreciated as well.

YouTube TV has a very nice mix of channels, especially if you dig sports. Even with their recent price hike they're still cheaper for me than cable, but if they keep raising their prices, that advantage may disappear.

We have been using the Roku platform for 8+ years now and love it.

Besides the kids channels which I’m sure you don’t need, we like:

Disney+
Netflix
Amazon Prime Video
YouTube
Redbox
Apple TV app
Spotify
Pandora
Xfinity app
Vudu
Dust (sci-fi movies and movie shorts app)

Peacock, The Roku Channel, NewsON, WeatherNation to name a few.

Your goals match up fairly well with ours. Here are the channels (all free - no subscription) we have on our RokuTVs:


tubi
Plex
plutoTV
Roku Channel
YouTube
Filmrise
Favesome
xumo
popcornflix
crackle
Watch Free Flix
FreebieTV
Dust
CW Seed
The CW
Newsmax
America's Voice
The First
WeatherNation
NewsOn
Haystack News
Free Movies Now!
Strirr
Movies Plus
peacock
PBS
Amazon Prime (used for for free IMDb only)
soma fm
Tune In
Radio Paradise
iHeart radio
Space TV+
NASA
Dolby


Hobbs' post below remined me that I should have cited the 21 broadcast channels we get OTA as well.

With an outdoor antenna, I get 14 OTA channels including all the alphabet networks and played over my ROKU LIVE TV channel.

List of other channels currently on my ROKU TVs ...

Amazon Prime Video
Roku Channel
Pluto
Aquatic Life
Odeon Theater
Stirr
Bumblebee TV
Airy TV
Newsmax TV
Tubi
Xumo
Fawesome
Crackle
Tune In
iHeart Radio
Amazon Music
Radio Paradise
Soma FM
Moments of Peace TV
Coffee Jazz
Chillout Beats
Deep House District
Down South Internet Radio
Tropical Music TV
Qfm 94.3

Great Timing! I too am moving ever closer to Cutting the Cable. I received my Roku Streaming Stick+ today and finished set it up short time ago.

I've been threatening to 'Cut-the-Cord' for some time now, and since election night, the only TV I've been watching is one hour per day of Tucker Carlson, so weeknights only! Everything else I watch for entertainment is basically limited to Netflix. My only hangup on actually pulling the plug on Comcast/Xfinity has been how I can still get to watch Tucker. I've developed a VERY Strong HATE for Comcast over the past couple of years, an will be saving $100/month by cancelling Cable TV, which I plan to do on Monday 3/15. As is the case with many, cost savings in one of the primary reasons to Cut-the-Cord, so I intend to limit the pay services I watch on my Roku. And there's NO Way I'll pay $65/month for YouTubeTV, or any other Live TV service!

Currently I set up the following subscription channels on my Roku:

- Netflix (Currently Subscribed thru Comcast)
- Prime Video (Amazon Prime Member)
- Fox Nation (Free One Year Subscription)
- Peacock (This should be free as a current Comcast customer, but it's NOT working!)

I also the have following free channels/content set up:

- Roku Channel
- Tubi
- Pluto
- Fox News (for limited Tucker Carlson content - Approx 20 min./daily episode of free video)
- Fox Business
- Newsmax

Is there other good FREE content out there, and if so what?
What low cost paid subscription content (less than $15/mo) do you like?

I'm sure 'ruger357', myself and other potential 'Cord Cutters' would like to know...

PBS is free, and has lots of good stuff.

Also, see if your local library is hooked into Kanopy. If so, Kanopy will let you stream 6 free movies a month, using your library account. It's mostly documentaries, independent films, and foreign films, but not all.

If you are a OAN fan, you can stream it live via the KlowdTV Roku channel, it’s like $5/month

quote:

Originally posted by nhracecraft:

- Peacock (This should be free as a current Comcast customer, but it's NOT working!)

If you are a current, paying Comcast/Xfinity customer, it should be working for you. Works just fine for us.

I’d try the following:
1. Update your Comcast account password
2. Update your Roku software
3. Remove the Peacock Roku channel, reboot the Roku then re-add the channel
4. Try signing in, you use your Xfinity account username and password

Pluto TV is really good. I added Locast a few months ago and really like it. It is a good deal @ $5 / month.

https://www.locast.org

"Locast is a public service to Americans, providing local broadcast signals over the Internet in select cities. All you have to do is sign up online, provide your name and email address, and certify that you live in, and are logging on from, one of the select US cities (“Designated Market Area”). Then, you can select among local broadcasters and stream your favorite local station.

Locast.org is a “digital translator,” meaning that Locast.org operates just like a traditional broadcast translator service, except instead of using an over-the-air signal to boost a broadcaster’s reach, we stream the signal over the Internet to consumers located within select US cities.

Ever since the dawn of TV broadcasting in the mid-20th Century, non-profit organizations have provided “translator” TV stations asa public service. Where a primary broadcaster cannot reach areceiver with a strong enough signal, the translator amplifiesthat signal with another transmitter, allowing consumers whootherwise could not get the over-the-air signal to receiveimportant programming, including local news, weather and ofcourse, sports. Locast.org provides the same public service, except instead of an over-the-air signal transmitter, we providethe local broadcast signal via online streaming.

You need a broadband Internet connection for optimal performance. Using a laptop, smartphone, or computer connected to the Internet, point your browser to www.Locast.org to sign up. You then canchoose which local broadcast station to watch from yourInternet-enabled device."

We cut the cord in August of 2019 and have never looked back.

If you have certain shows that you must absolutely have, this website is a good tool. In the left column you select the shows you need and the site will then present the various services that carry those specific shows.

https://www.suppose.tv

I like Roku and the channels/programming available.

I don't subscribe to any of the channels that charge a fee. After all...that was the reason I got off the cable and satellite tv bandwagon many years ago.

I am not a heavy tv watcher, but there is always something on, from news to sports and movies.

We cut ATT TV service after they pissed me off for the last time about 4-5 years ago. We now get nearly 50 OTA channels from a rooftop antenna and use Roku, primarily Sling Blue. Hulu is the only other pay channel we have.

We cut the cord about three months ago. We installed Roku interfaces on our TVs and simply added subscriptions as we found we “needed” them. So far we have peacock, Amazon Prime, and Discovery+. I’ll probably add Hulu or YouTube TV when football season gets closer.

For all those who are apprehensive about cutting the cord - there isn’t anything you currently have that you can’t get through the internet (at least not that I’ve found). It’s not an irrevocable decision, cable companies will be happy to hook you back up, so I suggest giving it a shot. I was paying $175 for cable, phone, and internet (100mb, which was closer to 45). I’m now paying $49 for 400 mb internet (no tax on broadband) so I have a lot of space before I break even.

We cut the cord in January. A Roku on one TV and a Firestick on the second. Subscriptions: Hulu+, HboMax, Disney+, Amazon Prime, Netflix.

We get crystal-clear reception of all the major networks via an inexpensive indoor antenna. We also invested $140 in a Tablo over-the-air VCR. The antenna plugs into the Tablo and the Tablo sends OTA channels to our TVs via WiFi. The Tablo also has an excellent channel guide that makes it easy to set recordings and a neat commercial skip feature: it takes about an hour after the program is finished taping for the Tablo to automatically edit out all the commercials. It's about 90% effective; occasionally a commercial slips through, but it's easy to fast forward past it.

For the cable cutters, Who is providing broadband services for the Roku, Hulu, etc? The largest portion of your QAM cable bill goes to the content providers, not necessarily to the Charters, Coxes and Comcasts. Eventually the streaming services will have to pony up to the content owners. This is especially true if advertising is successfully blocked.

quote:

Originally posted by scratchy:
For the cable cutters, Who is providing broadband services for the Roku, Hulu, etc?

I have Bonded DSL Service from CenturyLink as part of my landline telephone service. I did wire a switch at the network interface device (NID) on the side of the house so my Bonded DSL goes directly to my modem/router (this is called a "home run") and it is separate from the switch in the NID that handles my phone service, so I don't need filters on my phone lines at all. Filters are normally used so DSL and Phone don't cause interference with each other. My signals on Bonded DSL are clean and wired entirely separate from phone.

I live alone and don't need 100+ Mbps. My Bonded DSL service is provisioned for just under 30 Mbps and realistically I get about 24 Mbps download speed. I'm within about a mile and a half from the home office.

On my wireless network, I have a desktop computer (Linux Mint), 2 ROKU TVs, Sonos sound system, an Alexa Dot and a Fire HD 8 Plus tablet. From time to time I might drag out my Apple iPad or laptop with Linux Mint or laptop with Windows 10. As I mentioned, I live alone and there is never a lag or disconnect with my LAN.

I use an Actiontec C3000A modem/router (bought and paid for, so no rental) to handle it all ... TV, music and computer needs. My service with CenturyLink has a set price FOR LIFE. It will NEVER change EVER, as long as I don't make any changes to my service. The only thing that might ever change is the taxes and surcharges on a bill, but that isn't controlled by CenturyLink.

I could get better pricing (and faster speeds) by taking advantage of promotional offers from various broadband providers but have to worry about changing email contact information with a host of internet sites and friends and family ... and when the promotion expires and every couple of years thereafter ... get on the phone, often incurring long periods on hold, just to threaten disconnecting service because I'm unhappy with price increases. Forget that. I'll stick with one price FOR LIFE and a speed that covers all my needs. Much MUCH less hassle.

OH ... and as far as I know, not a penny of what I pay CenturyLink for Bonded DSL broadband goes to anyone ... but CenturyLink. If I want a paid subscription channel on ROKU, all I have to do is add the ROKU channel (no charge from ROKU to do so. In fact, no charge from ROKU to add any channel) and pay the subscription directly to the channel provider, such a Netflix for example. I had Netflix but no longer and never again. Don't like their "politics".

Learn something new every day:
Hobbs comment about OTA + ROKU: Seems if you have a ROKU TV (a tv with ROKU built-in, as opposed to an add-on stick or box), you can access OTA thru the ROKU interface instead of changing inputs. That is something I didn't know. Thanks.

We have been using them for at least 8 years, they work well but the "dongle" versions died after a year or 2.

The others seem to last quite well and you can project from your PC/tablet/phone on the latest versions. This is nice for my wife as she likes to watch old Russian movies.