When I do a channel scan for OTA local channels on my Roku TV not all channels appear. Using the same antenna I can pick up more channels on other TVs. It is possible to "Hide" channels, but I see no way to add missing channels. On a regular TV I would just tune to the desired channel using the number pad and adjust the antenna for good reception even if the channel scan did not find it initially. The Roku TV has no number pad and I can't figure a way to manually add an OTA channel. Any suggestions?

I see RokuDanny has gone off the grid with no answer. Maybe he doesn't understand the question. Or perhaps the real answer is "NO, Roku TV does not have the capability to manually add channels because we didn't really think this through before selling our TV... and Oh, ya... the remote IS poorly designed with the volume/mute buttons on the side where you keep inadvertently hitting them when just holding the remote. Sorry."

Adding OTA local stations manually on Roku TV

OliverTwist
Newbie
4 years ago
Almost all TV's let you initially scan for channels, and then SCAN FOR ADDITIONAL CHANNELS so that you don't have to rescan for channels when you turn your antenna to a different direction. The fact that ROKU hasn't identified this as an important firmware update is beyond moronic and the reason I wont buy a TV with roku built in. Many people have an antenna attached to a rotor allowing them to pick up channels from different municipalities.
On our sony tv we direct the antenna north and get channels from one city, then we direct the antenna west to another city, scan for additional channels to bank them in the tuner and so on. This way we don't have to re-scan for channels every time we change the direction of the antenna. Roku doesn't need a number pad, but they do need people who are capable of writing code to implement the above described feature in a long overdue firmware update.
- Tvgirl77
  Newbie
  4 years ago
  This need to be fixed. I will not buy another roku TV if they can't fix it. I place my antenna and scan for channels. I know for certain we get channel 8 AND all it's sub channels. The real annoying bit is I can't watch the sub channels on my roku tv. So 8.2, 8.3, and 8.4 are missing. I really love the old shows on 8.2 but can't watch them because the TV won't add them, and I can't enter them manually. Someone dropped the ball big time with this one.
  - Seesara
    Newbie
    4 years ago
    When I disconnect my WiFi to the Roku TV, I get the missing antenna channels back. Reconnect to WiFi and they disappear. I can go to two other TVs that use fire TV and same antenna, they work just fine. It’s something on the Roku. Let me know if you all have tried to watch on the Roku TV without internet and had better luck. Thanks in advance.
    
    pS I agree they need to address this on the next update
- jurassical
  Binge Watcher
  3 years ago
  Agreed. Deleting channels already discovered on re-scan is ridiculous. Why erase data that's already discovered?
  A firmware update is desperately needed.
  - Jayaro
    Streaming Star
    3 years ago
    Yes, please add the option to keep current channels on rescan or add new channels only option. Would solve a lot of issues.
SentientOne
Reel Rookie
4 years ago
I see RokuDanny has gone off the grid with no answer. Maybe he doesn't understand the question. Or perhaps the real answer is "NO, Roku TV does not have the capability to manually add channels because we didn't really think this through before selling our TV... and Oh, ya... the remote IS poorly designed with the volume/mute buttons on the side where you keep inadvertently hitting them when just holding the remote. Sorry."
Roger9
Reel Rookie
4 years ago
I'm facing the same challenge. I tried the suggested How do I set up the Live TV input on my Roku TV™? without success. I would like to add missing OTA channels and then figure out how to reorient my rabbit-ears antenna to get a good reception.
- RokuDanny-R
  Retired Moderator
  4 years ago
  Roger9
  
  Thanks for the post.
  
  Please be aware that if you haven't already tried the troubleshooting steps provided by our Support page online, then the channels shown on the Roku TV is all of the channels that the antenna is detecting. Have you tried moving the antenna to another location to see if you are able to detect more channels on the Roku TV?
  
  Please keep us posted.
  
  Thanks,
  Danny
  - Roger9
    Reel Rookie
    4 years ago
    Yes. I have moved the antenna around and tried several different locations and orientations within my home. I get mixed results.
    FYI -- Back in the day (1960s), TV sets came with 12 channels. I would connect the rabbit ears to the TV set and move the antenna around to get the best reception of the TV stations that were in my geographic area. With Roku as it is now designed, if the antenna does not detect the station, then as far as the Roku TV is concerned, the TV channel does not exist. As I move the antenna around and rescan the OTA channels, the available channels detected by the Roku TV come and go. I have found this effort to be an exercise in frustration.
    I know the TV stations exist because I can pick them up on my Windows laptop using the Hauppauge WinTV-dualHD dual tuner. What I am asking Roku to do is to add the capability for me to specify manually the OTA channels I want to receive. Then I can try re-orienting the rabbit ears as necessary to get the best reception for the channels I want to watch.
    P.S., OTA signal strength can vary with weather. I can scan the OTA channels today with my Roku TV and get a certain result. If I rescan tomorrow, I might get a different result. By watching the signal bars on the channels I get, I notice a strong signal today may be a weak signal at other times due to the weather. With the ability to specify OTA channels manually, I know the Roku TV is programmed to process those particular channels. I eliminate one element of uncertainty this way. Than I can deal with the other element of uncertainty of weak or strong OTA signals based on antenna orientation and the weather at the moment.
RokuDanny-R
Retired Moderator
4 years ago
SentientOne

Thanks for the post.

We would recommend taking a look at the information provided by our Support page here: Set up the Live TV input

Please keep us posted what you find out.

Thanks,
Danny