Channels & viewing

[mmmjv]

How do I watch the red sox games on Roku without being told that the game is blocked in my area? Why can't I watch it on Youtube TV which I'm paying for?

Supposedly you can watch on NESN once you create an account which you can only create by giving a "cable provider" and said cable provider has to be either xfinity, direct tv at&T Tv or Horizon. Roku is not on the list

[DBDukes]

Short answer:

There isn't a provider that carries NESN.

Long answer:

Roku isn't a provider. It's a device, nothing more.

By provider, they mean a service that include the channel. (Roku calls apps "channels" but forget that.) They mean a cable, satellite, or streaming service.

If you don't have cable or satellite service, many apps allow you authenticate against a streaming service. This would be something like Sling TV, Hulu With Live TV, YouTube TV, and so on. 

It appears that there are no streaming services that carry NESN. At least, I can't find any. True, I only did a quick search, but the most reliable info I can find doesn't list any streaming services, only a couple of satellite services.

So, you won't be able to watch NESN streaming on Roku, Apple TV, Chromecast, Fire TV, or any other streaming device unless you have a cable or satellite service with NESN in the package.

[mmmjv]

Then why is NESN on Roku's basic list of channels offered if you can't get it unless you have cable or satellite? That is very misleading

[DBDukes]

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@mmmjv wrote:

Then why is NESN on Roku's basic list of channels offered if you can't get it unless you have cable or satellite? That is very misleading

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Cable and satellite users can watch it on Roku. That's why it's offered as a Roku app.

You're confusing the app (Roku calls them channels) with the service (which cable and satellite call channels). Roku does not, or have they ever, offered channels in the classic sense. They offers apps. Now, the apps may be used to serve up a channel, in this case NESN. But the service/channel is only available on the Roku app/channel if you have the service/channel via a cable or satellite service.

There are many examples of this. HBO used to be this way, for instance. Now, HBO offers standalone.

Showtimes used to be this way. Now, Showtime offers standalone.

NESN is this way, and remains this way until they offer something more.

[mmmjv]

It is still very misleading. Especially since NESN is on their basic list of channels. That is you don't have to search for it. Anybody seeing a Roku somewhere else like in a store or somewhere would naturally think hey if I get Roku I can get NESN.

Showtime is not on the basic list so you can't compare that to NESN

[DBDukes]

How about ESPN? You like that comparison better?

[Strega]

What do you mean by "basic list"?

[mmmjv]

The row of boxes with logos on them that you see when you're not on any particular channels. The ones to the right of "Home" "featured Free" "My feed" etc.

[mmmjv]

Do I like it that Roku has at least two channels on their basic list that should not be there and are very misleading? No I do not. Seeing that box is a possible selling point for somebody deciding if they should get Roku or one of the others. So they pay the money and take it home thinking they're gonna watch NESN and hey guess what they need cable or satellite, which they cancelled because they were getting streaming services.

[Strega]

OK, well just for comparison, my home screen does have Showtime, but not NESN.

When you set up a Roku, it asks you some questions and then it grabs some channels for you that it believes might be useful for you (based on your answers.)

So they thought I might have use for Showtime and you might have use for NESN, and I guess they were wrong in both cases, but that's how suggestions go.

However there are lots of other channels you can add yourself, and you can delete their guessed channels.  (Select channel, press * key.)