Hands On With Roku’s New “The Roku Channel”

Today Roku announced the launch of a new streaming service that will put a ton of 100% free movies and TV shows all in one place. The new channel will be called “The Roku Channel,” and it will bring in a collection of top films from leading movie studios including Lionsgate, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Warner Bros.

Now I was able to go hands-on to give you a look at what you can expect from Roku’s new FREE streaming service: (Please watch the video for our full review.)

Note: Right now the Roku website is giving errors when I try to add the new channel. I was able to add the new channel to my Roku by going to the Roku Channel Store on my Roku Ultra. 

My first impressions:

• A great lineup of movies for a day one launch.
• I was surprised to see day time TV shows included for free.
• No ads play at the start of the movie, unlike most free services.
• The channel felt smooth and easy to use.
• The Roku Channel uses your Roku account to keep track of what you have watched and where you left off.

Roku says the new “The Roku Channel” will be rolled out in phases over the next few weeks. You will need to add “The Roku Channel” to your Roku player from the channel store because it will not be automatically added to your Roku.

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