Channels & viewing

[NJR11]

I’m a fan of the multi lingual European Arts Channel, Arte TV.

https://www.arte.tv/en/

It would be wonderful to see it as a Roku compatible app sometime soon. 

[makaiguy · Accepted solution]

It's not readily apparent to most users that each channel provider creates and maintains the specific version of their app that runs on the Roku system.   The only channels that Roku maintains are their own The Roku Channel, the Roku Media Player, and several Roku information channels.   For everything else, Roku just provides the platform on which they run. 

Contact Arte TV and let them know you would like them to make their service available via Roku.

[davidjazz]

I seem to remember ARTE being available on Roku at one time.

From the ARTE website: ARTE is momentarily unavailable on Roku players.

Which suggests it was once available. I also found this on the Roku France website from 2015 (translated by Google):

The ARTE channel is available on the Roku Channel Store in France, in the “News” and “TV programs & films” categories. Downloading and watching the channel is free.

[DBDukes]

@davidjazz 

So they already have an app. They control where the app is supported. There are 17 supported regions, with France being one, the USA being one, and 15 other countries being the other 15. Oh, and there's also "Rest of the World" meaning that app developers can support apps in places where Roku doesn't support devices. Each developer chooses where to support their app.

If the app exists, but isn't available in the USA, it's because the developer made that choice.

As to why such a choice would be made, it could be that the don't have proper licensing clearance for content they distribute that allows it to show in the USA. That's the most common reason a country isn't supported by an app in a Roku-supported region.