With the advent of streaming services, cord-cutting has become more and more prominent with cable and even satellite users. Marching with that trend, today’s article is no different as I’ll be teaching you how to watch live TV on Roku devices.
Many people have decided to cut the cord, most likely because these streaming services available offer better services, cover a wider range of channels and at the same time, all these features are offered at a much lower price as compared to cable or satellite users, hence the move or switch to streaming devices.
So many of us might be well aware of household names like Amazon and Apple and this may be the first time you are hearing of Roku or you seldom hear about Roku. Roku is a streaming service that has quietly been around for a long while, and if you are thinking of dumping your cable TV for a streaming service you can rely on, Roku is your best bet as it delivers the overall best service.
Roku is also the first to develop a box restricted to streaming videos only. The box supports a wide range of streaming services and the best thing about this device is that it is neutral in the sense that, it is not restricted to any particular brand which makes it usable on any television or service. Without further ado, let’s move over to, how to watch live TV on Roku devices.
How to Watch Live TV on Roku Devices
Before moving over to watching live TV on Roku, you need to know how to gain access to Roku devices. You can gain access to Roku by simply obtaining the Roku Stick – a small key-like device that you can stick into your TV’s HDMI port or a more powerful box. Now you know how to gain access to Roku, the next step to streaming live TV on Roku is taking note of the channels you want to stream live as there are free and paid channels you can stream from with your Roku Device.
How to Watch Live TV on Roku Devices (Free Live TV)
Watching free live TV is becoming more and more difficult these days, but there are still ways to go around it. You can gain access to free live streaming through regional news channels, the only limitation with this method is that most of these channels come with limited service and after which you’ll have to subscribe to enjoy their unlimited service.
Asides from the above method, you can also gain access to streaming free contents using additional hardware such as OTA (Over the air) antenna, plex, PC TV Tuner, etc. With these components, you should be able to stream live TV on Roku (free content). Additionally, you can subscribe to Sling TV, since they offer the AirTV service and this service makes it possible to stream free live channels on your Roku device. Its only disadvantage is that it has geological restrictions. Other than that, if your region is supported then you can gain access to local OTA through their stream.
In conclusion, free streaming services aren’t really easy to come by. It’s usually best to pay for the services in order to enjoy wholesome content.
How to Watch Live TV on Roku Devices (Paid Live TV)
Some of these services I’ll be listing to you in this section offers a free trial period that you can use to test out the services (in terms of performance, quality, and content of the stream) they offer before you can actually pick out a plan for yourself.
Some of the channels include: DirecTV Now, Sling TV, Hulu+ live tv, Youtube TV, Playstation Vue, FuboTV etc amongst the many others, and for the sake of this article we’ll be limiting ourselves these ones as the means to stream live tv on Roku.
DirecTV Now
DirecTV Now is a subsidiary of DirecTV and it is a live streaming option available to Roku users. With DirecTV Now, you can stream over 40 channels starting at $50 per month. DirecTV Now currently offers two live packages namely: Plus and Max and both packages come with thousands of on-demand movies and TV shows.
With DirecTV Now you can stream with two devices at once with all the packages available for the plan you subscribed for. Depending on your location, you can stand to gain access to some local channels, but you’ll have to check on their website to ensure if you eligible (your region is among the areas that support local streaming). You can now stream live tv on Roku devices using DirecTV Now.
Sling TV
Sling TV is amongst the earliest streaming options available out there. Sling TV offers two main packages namely: Orange and Blue and additionally you can still enjoy a la carte bundles. Read Also: How to get a Sling TV free trial.
The Orange package costs around $35 per month and it offers over 30 channels along with video-on-demand while the Blue package comes with over 40 live channels and still costs the same. Since the channels are not evenly distributed for both plans and you want to enjoy some channels that may be in one and not other, you can opt-in for the Blue/Orange (the combined plan) and it costs around $50 per month.
The extra bundles we mentioned earlier comes with pricing ranging from $5 to $15 per month. You can now stream live tv on Roku devices using Sling TV.
Hulu+ live TV
Hulu as a company offers streaming services, but they have added the live TV as part of the services they offer. While Hulu’s video on demand service is quite great due to its large library of contents, the live TV offers mouth-watering 60 + channels including channels like Cinemax and even HBO.
Hulu has just one live package available and the pricing for the Hulu+ live package is on the high side as it costs $64.99 per month, and this comes with ads. If you intend to enjoy the services without ads then an additional $5.99 will be added to the monthly cost of the plan. Here’s how to get Hulu free and save hundreds of bucks
With Hulu+ live TV you can also enjoy local stations but this option is based on your region or local as certain regions won’t have access to this feature. Just like Sling TV, the Hulu+ live tv service offers add-ons for premium channels for an additional fee. You can now stream live tv on Roku devices using Hulu+ live tv.
Youtube TV
Youtube TV is a subsidiary from the video giants “YouTube”. This streaming service was made to be a cable alternative and offers live tv, video on demand and over 85 television networks.
Youtube TV costs $65 per month and a few premium channels (add-ons) are available for $3 per month. The premium channels include Cinemax, HBO, and other popular channels.
With Youtube TV you have access to an unlimited amount of cloud DVR storage, which is amazing because DVR recordings last up to nine months and that is quite impressive. Unlike DirecTV Now, you can add up to six user accounts even though it is only limited to 3 simultaneous streams. You can now stream live tv on Roku devices using Youtube TV.
PlayStation Vue
PlayStation Vue is another streaming service from PlayStation. Don’t worry I know what must have crossed your mind, you don’t need to own a PlayStation console in order to gain access to their streaming service.
PlayStation Vue has four packages to choose from, namely: Access, Core, Elite and Ultra with pricing ranging from $49.99 to $84.99 per month. Just like the other streaming services listed above, with PlayStation Vue, you can include add-ons to gain access to premium content such as cinemax, HBO, and Showtime for just $5.99 per month.
And lastly, with PlayStation Vue, you can watch up to 5 screens simultaneously. You can now stream live tv on Roku devices using PlayStation Vue.
FuboTV
Before now Fubo TV was strickly a sports-only streaming channel service provider up until they started streaming other contents asides sports.
Currently, FuboTV has 4 bundle plans namely: Starter, Pro, Elite and Latino Quarterly, and the price ranges from $33 per month to $64.99 per month. FuboTV is not left out in the added packages as their add-ons cost about $6 per month.
With FuboTV you can also have access to local stations and this again is restricted to certain geographical locations.
You can now stream live tv on Roku devices using FuboTV.