Channels & viewing

[ksbirish]

If all you want is a sports channel such as ESPN, ROKU alone won't be enough to play it? I only want one channel, it seems I have to pay for the sports channel AND someone else (like Hulu) to stream it?

[Strega]

If you type "sports" into the Roku channel store, you'll get lots of matches with various business models.

That particular one is complex.  There is ESPN (tied to a TV provider/cable subscription) but there is also ESPN Plus (available through the same app) which is a direct pay service.  However, it appears that having either one alone doesn’t get you 100% of ESPN coverage – you seem to need both the TV provider and the ESPN Plus account for that.

[DBDukes]

@ksbirish 

I only want ESPN during college football season. I subscribe to a live streaming service that carries it during that time. Sling TV is the cheapest service that includes ESPN (Orange plan; Blue plan has Fox Sports), at $35, compared to Hulu Plus Live TV's $70 (it's currently $65, but goes up next week), YouTube TV or Fubo at $65, or DirecTV Stream at $70.

Unless and until ESPN/Disney decide to offer a full standalone service -- as @Strega mentioned, ESPN Plus is more of a supplement to ESPN, not a replacement -- then this is the only way to get it. That's true for Roku or any streaming platform.