Channels & viewing

[Chris68]

I posted around a year ago about the removal and also lack of Asian oriented channels and didn't get many replies or feedback. That's a bit sad, but I guess it has nothing to do with any certain problems or issues going on with Roku so I guess it didn't and won't go too far. 😫 Although I'm not really of Asian descent, I love the entertainment they offer and they usually have subtitles. Two days ago, Asian-crush, Kocowa, and Midnight Pulp disappeared from the live TV line up with the likes of New K-Movies, New K-Pop, China On Demand, Bambu and others I may not even remember. There were never that many in the first place. 😪

The major reason I invested in 9 Roku devices (6 TV's, 2 Boxes and the Roku sound bar) was because of the Roku Live TV Feed featuring great Asian channels, something we never really had access or could enjoy in the west when I was growing up. Yeah, I can add extra apps (and I have) but I'm still old school and prefer that TV guide where I just see whats on and playing and click on it. 😊 As of today, I count 3 Asian Entertainment channels left with subtitles... Rokuten Viki, CJ Ent, and Hiyah. I don't watch much anime, but I think I have 2 of those left as well. Compared to the Hundreds of English and Spanish(Most with No Subtitles) channels to choose from, it's pretty lacking.

There are many other Asian channels that could be added as well as bringing back the ones that have gone with the wind lately. I'm just ONE Roku customer, and I was planning on purchasing the new 85 inch Roku TV, but I've decided against investing in any more Roku TVs or devices for now. I'm sure there are other Roku customers out there that feel the same even if they don't speak up. In the long run If I have to rely on an app only to watch Asian Entertainment, I guess any streaming device will do.

Please start thinking about your WORLD WIDE audience Roku. 😎

[atc98092]

Roku does not create channels/apps for 3rd party providers. If you know of any providers of the content you desire, you should contact them and request they create a channel/app for Roku devices. 

Midnight Pulp is still on my devices. If you're not seeing it in the "Live TV" lineup, then just install the channel for it. I have no clue how the Live TV lineup is determined, so can't say why it's not there if it used to be.

[Strega2]

Roku itself is only supported in about 10% of the countries on Earth and in the Asia Pacific region, the only country supported is Australia.  I would assume that once/if Roku is supported in more Asian countries, that more Asian content producers will target them.  Although many of those new channels will surely be geo-restricted to local viewers. 

[tb_atx]

I agree completely with this post. I talked my parents into buying the Roku streaming stick just for the 4 free Korean channels that were all there just a week ago, but now Kocowa and Asian Crush are missing. I only know because my mother called to tell me! 

I commented on another thread about this recently and the response from support is that they will get this information to the right group that controls the programming for the free Live TV app. I’m guessing it’s possible that the channels will return eventually, but it’s unfortunate that channels can just mysteriously disappear without warning. I would not have suggested the streaming stick to my parents if I had known this might happen. My mother is an older Korean woman, and having the “old school” guide for her to use was necessary. Navigating through the Home Screen and trying to find channel icons there and then selecting programs within those is just too convoluted for her. The Live TV guide was ideal and having 4 Korean channels she enjoyed was really nice. 

I really hope they bring the missing Asian channels back to the Live TV app soon. 

[atc98092]

@tb_atx I suggest searching for a web site for the providers you mention, and ask them why they have been removed from Roku devices. Since they control access to their content, only they can answer why it's no longer available on Roku. It's always possible that it was done in error, and they can quickly return the content back on Roku devices. 

[tb_atx]

Thanks for the suggestion.

But the issue is that although these channels are still available on the Roku platform (you can still search for and add the channel app to your Home Screen) they were also previously showing in the Roku Channel “Live TV” app guide, where you can just scroll through the guide and then select and watch whatever is live streaming at the moment. 

That’s where they disappeared from. So technically they are still available on Roku, just not in the very convenient live streaming channel guide anymore. Hope that makes sense.

I would assume that the Live TV channel guide is controlled internally by the Roku dev team, but who knows. Still learning how all this works.

[atc98092]

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@tb_atx wrote:

I would assume that the Live TV channel guide is controlled internally by the Roku dev team, but who knows. Still learning how all this works.

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Thanks for the clarification. I have no idea how the Live TV listings are created/maintained, but I would agree that it would likely be Roku themselves. I have never used that function, so no idea what's listed in it. I'm sure there's some criteria that Roku is using to make the listing practical for the most users, but I can't find any publicly available information about how it's determined. 

[McCrash]

Midnight Pulp was possibly the best free channel on the Roku Live feed. 

It is gone now (right after a Gamera marathon) and the only option I am offered is to pay $4.99 a month to watch it now, including if I lowland the app.

I don't know where to look to see why it's gone or if it is now a paid membership only app, but I've looked on here, Reddit, general searches, etc. and I'm bummed no posts are up about it disappearing/going paid only.

BTW, my Samsung tv, that I watch my Roku Ultra 4k on, still carries the feed on the Samsung tv channels.

[atc98092]

I've had Midnight Pulp on my Rokus for years, and it's always been a subscription service. Yes, they did offer some content for free, but most of it requires a paid account, which I've never done. If it's now 100% subscription, that would explain it being removed from the live feed list. 

[AvsGunnar]

@McCrash 

Midnight Pulp is still showing/streaming free on Plex Live TV, Sling FreeStream, and Freevee as well.

If you notice one of the live linear feeds is missing/removed from a particular service, just check to see if available on one of the other free channels/apps offering live tv.  Some are building up their offerings while others are scaling back.