Channel Issues & Questions

[Trevor_Bartram]

I have Charter Spectrum internet, no CATV, and have been using the ESPN app on my Roku 3 for many years. The amount of content has dwindled to a trickle and the Charter rep said this morning that ESPN will eventually go completely. ESPN+ is a low cost option at $50/year. The Roku ESPN app shows lots of ESPN+ content but I can't access it, if that content carries over to the ESPN+ app, it's a great option for the tennis fan! Please let me know your thoughts about tennis on the ESPN+ app?
Thanks, Trevor.

[Elijah_Baley]

ESPN+ content is separate from ESPNs. There are several leagues and events that are ESPN+ only or mostly. One example is the MLS. Most MLS games, but not all, are available through ESPN+ only. I think this is also true for a lot of tennis tournaments.

ESPN can be mostly activated by having ESPN available through a provide like Spectrum or, like I do, Sling TV. (There are a LOT of other providers that give ESPN access as well.) However having ESPN access does NOT give access to ESPN+. ESPN+ is a separate subscription for $5.00/month bought through ESPN. Once you have bought the sub to ESPN+ you activate it on your Roku by using the settings part of the ESPN app, which is also where you activate full ESPN access.

Since the ESPN+ is a monthly sub my suggestion is to give it a try for a month and if you do not like it cancel.

[Trevor_Bartram]

Thanks, Elijah. I signed up to ESPN+ thru Roku. The content is basically what I was expected, with on demand items marked ESPN+ now available and they never were previously. However unmarked items that were available thru the Roku ESPN channel (until very recently) are not available and this includes major individual matches. You have to be a CATV subscriber (which I never have been) to access those matches. So, ESPN+ gives with one hand, takes with the other! Perhaps I should try to watch live matches (which I never have before) to see if access to those has improved. 
I often wondered why ESPN didn't monetize with adverts. Advertising was non existent years ago, came in a couple of years ago, then dropped off again recently. ESPN probably realized it wasn't worth the effort.
I did find out that Disney (that owns ESPN) will be releasing a streaming bundle in November that includes Disney+, Hulu & ESPN+ for $13. However I'd need Hulu Premier, I could stand the adverts on Hulu basic. Hopefully I can upgrade in time for the Australian open in January.

[Elijah_Baley]

As I said ESPN and ESPN+ are actually different services. You can, as you have done, subscribe to ESPN+ without having access to ESPN programming but you cannot get ESPN programing without a TV subscription. Even though ESPN shows the content together on a lot of screens they are actually two separate services.

However you do NOT need a CATV subscription to access ESPN content. A subscription to Sling which I think starts at $15.00/month (The Orange tier is what has ESPN I think) will provide full access to the ESPN content but not to ESPN+ which is still separate.

To get access to ESPN content and ESPN+ content you must have two separate subscriptions. For me it is wel worth it. In fact I subscribe to Sling Orange and Sling Blue with their sports add on because I want ESPN and ESPN+ and Fox (FS1 and FS2) and NBCsN (For the EPL) content. The total cost for me is somewhere in the vicinity of $55.00/month for all the sports I could ever want. Of course everyone must make their own decisions about value vs cost but for me it is really good value.

BTW: I actually access Sling via my Fire TV rather than my Roku. I find the Fire's interface for Sling MUCH better than Roku's. Plus the FF and RW often does not work correctly on the Roku. But I use the Roku for ESPN content because the ESPN app is better, for me, on the Roku.

If ESPN+ increases its price even just a few dollars I may well drop it. I sub to ESPN+ primarily for the MLS and the level of play in the MLS has become so poor that it is often painful to watch and my primary use of ESPN+ is for MLS content.

[Trevor_Bartram]

I'll try ESPN+ thru the U.S. open. I believe all I've lost is the individual matches (there are now very few anyhow), the various courts are there with 6-8 hours of continuous programming. It's just a matter of looking up the open schedule and fast forwarding thru the coverage to get to the match. A little less convenient but workable. 
Sling Orange is $25/month (that's more than I pay for Netflix streaming plus two DVDs at a time), so I'd have to look at that hard before considering it.
Thanks for the help, hope this helps others.