Community Discussions

[degt]

I have a Roku device since 2018 but I feel it is underutilized due to region restrictions which make it difficult for me to feel I got value for money.

Many of the channels that interest me are not available to me because of my region (Latin America). Many of the channels I get to install are useless with the exception of Deutsche Welle, Netflix & C|Net, and those that my wife watches (France 24, Colombian TV). I lived many years in US & Europe, those are the things I am used to seeing (and enjoy). I consider myself an expat, I want to keep in touch with the things that mattered to me.

If it wasn't for that I would be recommending Roku left and right to many people here. But since that is not the case I feel that as soon as I can I may get myself an Android TV device and see other ways to get content that is of interest to me.

[makaiguy]

Roku units work anywhere in the world where they can get an internet connection. The individual channels, however can only operate where their charters and program rights permit them to operate.

Few channels own the programming they show. Most have to license the right to stream their content from the program owners, and those rights are usually tied to specific countries or geographic regions. Sometimes even the program owners can't distribute in a country because they've sold exclusive rights in that country to someone else.

To get the channels authorized for your current location these must all agree:
- the country of the IP used when creating your Roku account
- the country of the IP used for your Roku session
- the countries in which each channel app operates