Channels & viewing

[Mranimeyandr]

I bought a monthly subscription to ESPN on my Roku account, and I want to watch it on my iPhone.

When I’m trying to activate it on my iPhone, it asks for a TV Provider.

I use Roku to watch stuff.  Why would I need a TV Provider when I’m already a paying customer for ESPN?  I don’t want to buy a whole subscription again just to watch the same things on my iPhone, so how do I get around this?

[Strega · Accepted solution]

Unfortunately, subscriptions bought through devices are almost always only available on that type of device.  (ie Roku subs are only seen by other Rokus.)  If you want to do things across a variety of device types, it is better to cancel your Roku sub, then subscribe directly with the content provider and log into the app on each device with those credentials.

[HDMIGuy]

ESPN does not offer monthly subscriptions.  You must have purchased a monthly subscription to ESPN Plus.  ESPN requires a cable, satellite, or streaming service like YouTube TV.  If you are trying to activate ESPN on any device it will ask for a TV provider. If you are trying to activate ESPN Plus it will ask you to login to your account.  I have an ESPN Plus subscription active on several devices including Roku, Apple, and Amazon Fire Stick.  However, I don't know if you can use the ESPN Plus subscription purchased on your Roku account on an apple device.  As indicated by Strega it is best to purchase a subscription from the content provider directly.