Has Achieved Nirvana
| The antenna/YTTV is really only required if you want to watch local channels and regular network TV. I have friends who use only streaming services like Netflix and don’t want local stuff. You’ll have to decide. Some network stuff is on that channel’s app. Our local news channel offers something but I don’t know exactly what. Not sure how you get Food Network/HGTV on an antenna - maybe Mark knows.
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Life is short. Play with your dog.
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| | | Posts: 34946 | Location: Hooterville, OH | Registered: 23 April 2005 | 
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Has Achieved Nirvana
| It looks like Xfinity (your internet provider, I think) has their own streaming app like Spectrum does - Xfinity stream. You can watch network TV on your phone or cast it to the Roku stick. The ad I see says $20/month - pretty cheap if they offer what you want.
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Life is short. Play with your dog.
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| | | Posts: 34946 | Location: Hooterville, OH | Registered: 23 April 2005 |
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Has Achieved Nirvana
| quote: Some network stuff is on that channel’s app. Our local news channel offers something but I don’t know exactly what.
Our local networks typically provide access to live news broadcasts via their websites or apps when the news is actually on. OTOH, if you want to get the regular non-news broadcast programming, it's either OTA or you have to have a cable or streaming provider. When you go to stream the local broadcast channels, it asks you to sign in with your provider ID. quote: Not sure how you get Food Network/HGTV on an antenna
You can't get Food Network or HGTV with an antenna. Philo is probably the cheapest way ($25/mo) Philo is cheap because they don't provide local network programming, which apparently is what drives up the cost of cable and streaming services like YTTV that give you access to those local channels. Actually, this is a really good guide to help when evaluating the various streaming services. He talks about Philo here, but at the end he has links to his other reviews, of YTTV, Sling, etc. https://www.tomsguide.com/news...cord-diary-pros-cons
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We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through. Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love… and then we return home. - Australian Aboriginal proverb
Bazootiehead-in-training
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| | | Posts: 37898 | Location: Somewhere in the middle | Registered: 19 January 2010 |
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Has Achieved Nirvana
| quote: It looks like Xfinity (your internet provider, I think) has their own streaming app like Spectrum does - Xfinity stream. You can watch network TV on your phone or cast it to the Roku stick.
The ad I see says $20/month - pretty cheap if they offer what you want.
Steve, I think the service you're looking at is Xfinity Now. It's kind of like Philo. You get a bunch of cable stations like HGTV, etc. But no access to local stations. The Xfinity people on the subreddit tried to sell it to me when I went to cancel my cable TV. You use the same Xfinity Stream app that I was using to watch all my cable TV on my iPad or Roku-enabled TVs. It cuts down on the cost of cable boxes. You also use the Xfinity Stream app to watch Now content and its reduced lineup. Our cable channel lineup had over 200, including local channels. Now has something like 40 channels. Worth noting…..it is a cheaper way to get to HGTV, as it's only $20 a month.  https://www.xfinity.com/nowtv#faq
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We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through. Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love… and then we return home. - Australian Aboriginal proverb
Bazootiehead-in-training
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| | | Posts: 37898 | Location: Somewhere in the middle | Registered: 19 January 2010 |
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| One thing I forgot to mention...hard to imagine, I know...there is a 1.2 TB cap on data for Xfinity internet; you can pay $30 a month extra for unlimited data. I don't think it's an issue for most households, but if there are multiple people watching TV all day, watching 4k content, doing a ton of gaming or other data-intensive activities, you could bump up against the limit. Xfinity will let you go over the limit once before they hit you with an overage charge. If you log in to your Xfinity account and look for Internet, it will tell you what your usage is, both for the current month and historically.
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We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through. Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love… and then we return home. - Australian Aboriginal proverb
Bazootiehead-in-training
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| | | Posts: 37898 | Location: Somewhere in the middle | Registered: 19 January 2010 |
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Has Achieved Nirvana
| quote: Originally posted by CHAS:
We had no trouble with Roku and Apple TV.
Watched Ted Lasso, were disappointed with their other offerings and cancelled.
Thought I had edited this.
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Several people have eaten my cooking and survived.
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| | | Posts: 25704 | Location: Still living at 9000 feet in the High Rockies of Colorado | Registered: 20 April 2005 |
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| What is Roku? A device, subscription, or?
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Be calm, be brave, it'll be okay.
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Has Achieved Nirvana
| It slices! It dices! It purees! quote: Roku is a company that makes a family of media-streaming devices that all run Roku software. The name means “six” in Japanese because Roku is the sixth company launched by its founder, Anthony Wood. The company launched its first product — the Roku DVP — in 2008 and has been releasing new versions of its hardware and software on a regular basis ever since.
(I had no idea about the origins of the name of the company...) quote: Is it a device or is it software?
It’s both! Roku sells its own hardware — the Roku players — that run from $30 on the low-end (Roku Express) to $180 on the high-end (Roku Streambar Pro) with several models in between, including stick-style players that plug directly into your TV. These players can be used on any TV with an HDMI connection, but they’re especially handy for folks who don’t own a smart TV with its own internet connection. Each player comes with a Roku remote, the latest versions of which offer voice control and Bluetooth connectivity. They’re easy-to-use devices that let you navigate the Roku on-screen menus and control the playback of streaming media. The Roku app for your smartphone can also be used to control the system with some added features and easier search with the on-screen keyboard (more on the remote later).
Roku also licenses its Roku OS (which it uses on its players) to third parties including TV manufacturers like TCL, Hisense, RCA, Onn, and Toshiba. These Roku-powered TVs are known as Roku TVs, and depending on the model, they pack the entire Roku experience, plus control over the TV’s dedicated functions like volume, channels, and inputs, into Roku’s simple interface. For a lot of folks, that’s a big reason to buy a Roku TV. And most recently, the company launched its own Roku-branded TVs sold exclusively through Best Buy.
quote: Do I have to pay a subscription?
No. There is no subscription fee required to use any of Roku’s features, whether you buy a Roku player, Roku TV, or Roku Soundbar. However, Roku lets you access plenty of streaming services that do require a subscription. Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Max, and Hulu are all popular examples of subscription-based content. You’ll also find it’s possible to access movie rental or purchase services, and these too require some form of payment.
Alongside the paid-content options are tons of completely free sources of content including access to 350 live TV channels that you can find through The Roku Channel’sLive TV Channel Guide. Plus, most Roku devices let you access your personal collection of movies, TV shows, photos, and music. Some Roku players, like the Ultra, provide a dedicated USB port so you can plug in an external hard drive and play files directly.
https://www.digitaltrends.com/...heater/what-is-roku/
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We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through. Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love… and then we return home. - Australian Aboriginal proverb
Bazootiehead-in-training
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| | | Posts: 37898 | Location: Somewhere in the middle | Registered: 19 January 2010 |
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Minor Deity
| Tablo is working out really well for us. It provides the local stuff and a ton of other channels for free. We get not just Cincinnati but the Dayton stations as well. So now we have Tablo and we split streaming costs woth our daughter. Works great.
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"A mob is a place where people go to get away from their conscience" Atticus Finch
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