While I have had a Roku television for a little over three years now, it’s not something I have really properly utilized. I’m more likely to watch my streaming services on my Xbox Series X, as it’s a console I use constantly anyway. But recently, I’ve realized just how limited my Xbox can be when it comes to available applications.
So, after years of being stuck in my ways, I have finally embraced my Roku television, as well as some tricks to make my Roku streaming experience more useful. The results have actually been far better than I could have anticipated, and there are numerous awesome applications and channels on Roku that offer me far more than most devices I use, excluding my PC.
Live TV
A nearly endless supply of older shows and news
I canceled my cable subscription years ago in favor of premium streaming services, and while that’s been a mixed bag due to constant price increases and an inflated market, there are plenty of free options available. The biggest surprise for me was discovering that the Roku Channel has a live television section, and it’s actually a gold mine of content. It’s not surprising, given that there are a plethora of free live TV apps I’ve never heard of.
While I’m not one to watch the news regularly, I did discover that there are a lot of very handy local news stations available through the Roku Channel’s live television offering. But what I’ve really discovered is that there’s a constant stream of older television shows, like Murder, She Wrote, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, and Law & Order. If you’re looking for movies, you’re also in luck, because there are sections for all kinds. One of the best for me is the Miramax Movie Channel, which just has a great line-up of movies you might not find on streaming services.
The Roku Channel
Some of these offerings are better than any premium streaming service
If you’re not one for live television, then the Roku Channel’s on-demand service is a great alternative. I discovered or rediscovered a lot of fun movies and shows from my youth, and it’s been a really satisfying nostalgia trip. The best movies I found were classics like The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, to underrated fare like First Knight.
For television, there’s arguably even more to offer, especially if you like the classics. Rediscovering Quantum Leap completely for free was a nice surprise, but I’m sure my grandpa would be happy to discover that I’ve been watching way too much Walker, Texas Ranger in my downtime. You’re not going to get the new hit shows here, but the Roku Channel is supremely underrated for what it offers in old-school value.
Fawesome
Classics and hidden gems galore
While I’ve known about Fawesome for a little while now, I always thought of it as more of a desktop or phone application than anything else. So imagine my surprise when I discovered that it had a Roku application available. There are just tons of great movies on here that I don’t believe I’ve seen on any premium streaming service in ages.
What really captured my attention was Fawesome’s lineup of Western films, from Shane to more modern greats like Seraphim Falls. Honestly, I could do an entire marathon of just Western films on this channel. But if Westerns aren’t your thing, there are plenty of other things to watch, up to and including some off-the-wall television offerings, too. I just started a watch of Wallander, and it’s surprisingly compelling.
FilmRise
More classics with a genre-specific twist
While FilmRise is an application that also exists on other devices, what I really appreciate about its inclusion on Roku is that it also features genre-specific offshoot channels. This allows you to really focus on what you want to watch, when you want to watch it. For me, I was surprised to find an individual British TV channel, and there are tons of goodies on there, like the never-ending Midsomer Murders.
While the main application has all of these compiled, I sometimes find that the clutter and abundance of choice lead to analysis paralysis. There’s something freeing about just choosing a genre and going on a nice binge marathon. As Halloween approaches, I know I will be spending way too much time on their horror channel. It’s been too long since I’ve had a good Train to Busan rewatch.
Local Now
A nice alternative to the Roku Channel
While I’ve grown to love the Roku Channel, Local Now is a great channel in its own right. As the name suggests, it’s primarily focused on offering location-based media for news. It even tells you what the weather is supposed to be like in your area when you first open it. Again, if you’re news-obsessed, this might be the best channel I can recommend.
But if you’re not, there’s also some great live channels and on-demand movies and shows to choose from. The Majestic, Joe Versus the Volcano, and All is Lost were the movies that really immediately pulled me into the service, but there’s plenty more where that came from.
Roku offers tons of great free options for live TV and streaming
While I’m not going to cancel my premium streaming accounts anytime soon, Roku has shown me that there are plenty of free options available if I ever do reach that point. Some of these channels can be a bit ad-heavy, but that’s the nature of free, I suppose. But if you’re looking for some non-streaming smart TV apps to install first, there are a lot of options.
