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Roku Channel has good news for cord-cutters: 100 free live TV channels

Roku's free TV service just got a serious bump with a new program guide and 100 live channels of news, kids' shows and lifestyle shows.

Ty Pendlebury Editor
Ty Pendlebury is a journalism graduate of RMIT Melbourne, and has worked at CNET since 2006. He lives in New York City where he writes about streaming and home audio.
Expertise Ty has worked for radio, print, and online publications, and has been writing about home entertainment since 2004. He majored in Cinema Studies when studying at RMIT. He is an avid record collector and streaming music enthusiast. Credentials
  • Ty was nominated for Best New Journalist at the Australian IT Journalism awards, but he has only ever won one thing. As a youth, he was awarded a free session for the photography studio at a local supermarket.
Ty Pendlebury
2 min read
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Roku

Roku  expanded its free live TV service Roku Channel earlier this month with the addition of 100 live channels housed in a new program guide. The service offers linear programming from categories including news (ABC News Live, Reuters, Newsy), kids (Teletubbies, Kidz Bop), lifestyle (Bon Appetit, Bob Ross) and sports (Bein, Outside TV).

In order to watch the new channels, Roku Channel has added a "Live TV" tile at the top of the home screen. You can also press the left arrow to access the guide from within any screen of the app.

The guide itself offers 12 hours of data. Press the star button to switch the guide between All Channels and Recent Channels. The company says it's not currently possible to set reminders for upcoming programs, however. Roku also promises "Fast Channel Switching" for finding the exact channel you want to watch. 

the-roku-channel-live-tv-guide-button
Roku

Despite appearing in a guide and including some familiar names and even live sports (whenever it resumes), the content isn't the same as what you'll get from cable TV or live TV streaming services. Instead it's typical of other live, free-ad-supported services such as Pluto TV and Xumo TV, which present a mix of older or lesser-known shows. (Editors' note: Pluto TV and CNET are both divisions of ViacomCBS.)

Roku Channel began in 2018 and is available on Roku devices including streamers and Roku TVs as well as web browsers, iOS or Android Roku apps and Samsung Smart TVs. Roku says The Roku Channel reached households with an estimated 31 million people in the first quarter of 2020.