Channels & viewing

[CyborgShadow]

Because of the continuing dispute between Roku and YoutubeTV, I will replace my TVs with Android/Google TVs as I can afford it.  This is unacceptable.  I made an in-depth comparison of online providers to get rid of DirecTv and its bloated pricing.  I choose Youtube TV because it had the most bang for the buck.  I feel Roku is not serving the best interest of its customers. 

[MartyPA]

There's no need to replace the TV's, just buy other streaming devices.

We only have one Roku TV, but have 4 Roku Ultras, we'll replace them with Firesticks.  Might even put the Roku Ultras on ebay for a few bucks.

[CyborgShadow]

Thanks for the advice.  Just ordered a firestick to try.  Roku's days may be numbered.

[Ms-Lindy]

I have been patient but not much longer. I have 3 TCL ROKU tvs in my home and 1 TCL ANDROID. I use YOU TUBE TV on all.. I LOVED ROKU...but now am disappointed that YOUTUBE TV APP NO LONGER WORKS AND NOW AMAZON PRIME VIDEO BECAUSE OF YOUR DISPUTE? Now I see this may take away YOUTUBE as well? I WILL NOT TOLERATE THAT! If you don't resolve this I will dump all 3 Rokus and NEVER BUY them again! And I will tell everyone I can reach about this terrible experience. YES, I HAVE THE MONEY TO DO THIS. SHAME on ROKU for hurting our community and the people especially that can't afford to change tv's. FIX IT NOW! 

[Ms-Lindy]

We shouldn't have to buy streaming sticks. That was the whole purpose of the Roku TV. They need to fix this!

[Strega]

A few decades ago, when these disputes would happen, people would get upset, because the local cable company was a monopoly, and some people didn't have a view of satellites, and cable and satellite had installation appointments, 2-year contracts with early termination fees (even in the case of losing channels in a dispute!) etc.  And we did all that for 40 TV channels.

Now a $20 Roku can give you thousands of channels, is installed in a few minutes, and when there's a dispute, you can either watch the other thousand channels, or pay another $20 for a second tiny gizmo with no contract, no technician visit, no new holes in your house etc. 

It really seems like a golden age for TV viewing to me.  If buying TVs with a built-in streaming service is going to make you feel locked to that service, then I'd say: don't buy that TV.

[MartyPA]

But the streaming services and streaming devices are doing what the cable companies did, exactly what we didn't like.

Sure, we can buy a TV without the streaming program that we don't want, but try to buy a nice, large TV that isn't a smart TV.  And as we've seen, no matter which smart system the TV has, that system can drop what we want from our smart TV at any time.

And how I wish that Roku's were $20.  My Roku's are all Ultras, that's because we prefer to hard wire our internet, and those devices are $100, not $20.  So if Roku stops us from being able to stream YouTube TV, those devices are useless to us.

Roku probably assumes that most people will simply go with Hulu or Philo or any of the other streaming options, but for us, YouTube TV is the one that offers our family what we want.  So if our choice is drop YT TV or Roku, we'll drop Roku in a heartbeat and never go back, and I'll be certain to badmouth Roku at every given opportunity.

[MartyPA]

The YouTube TV app is gone, but as of now we can still access it through the YouTube app.  We'll know in about a week if they'll delete that or not.

I can't imagine that Roku will ever stop customers from accessing YouTube, YouTube TV AND Amazon Prime.

[AvsGunnar]

@MartyPA 

Personally, I do have not issues with using a mobile device/tablet and then just casting to my various Roku devices whatever content I want to watch, regardless of whether Roku has a dedicated Channel/app available on its platform.  It may not be as easy as using the Roku remote control to just click and open, but it is an option.

If YoutubeTV and eventually Youtube is removed, and you really like their services/policies, or is the best fit for you, then the best method is to purchase the Chromecast with Google TV devices, or even Walmart's ONN Android Streaming box (very similar to the Chromecast w/Google TV), and attach them to your TVs.  This actually may also force Google to stop abandoning development of its own devices while attempting to require other devices to implement their features and wishlists.  Nothing wrong with using multiple devices.  My VCR doesn't play DVDs.   My DVD player doesn't stream internet content.

You really just have to incorporate a system that complements what your viewing preferences are.  My impression is Roku attempts to create a neutral playing field for the different streaming services and Channels.  I don't want to see all the other Channels negatively affected because they have to yield to Google.  Let Google go play in their own sandbox.

[BOBBY-MAC]

Same here - used ROKU for many years, but may use another product.

My bedroom Roku was having problems so just purchased a new Roku.

I've had YOUTUBE TV for years, but couldn't add it because of new Roku device.

Kind of pissed off. 

Get this issue fixed as I'd rather drop ROKU than Youtube TV.