9 Free Roku Channels – Frugal RV Living
Do you Roku?
Being a movie lover and being frugal can be tricky sometimes. Maintaining our full-time RV life is more important than keeping up with the latest movies. Going to a movie theater has virtually been cut out of my RV life. We may see one movie a year in the theater.
Satelite Television is totally out of the question. I don’t have any interest in acquiring a monthly bill for TV. I worked for a cable company for years while still in my sticks & bricks. I received free service during my employment. When I left that company? I cut the cable tv cord and relied on Netflix and over-the-air local channels.
High-Speed Internet would be nice to have everywhere we go, but again, I don’t want to add monthly service fees. So, that leaves me with my cell phone. I have service through Cricket. I selected Cricket so I had the option of upgrading and downgrading my service as needed while we travel. Sometimes I activate the hotspot, some places I can disable it.
So far, I’ve managed to get my television and movie fill quite easily. One of the tools for this is my Roku box. Fortunately, I’m currently workamping at a location that has free wifi as part of the perks. Good thing, because I don’t get a single television channel off my RV antenna at this location.
For those of you who are not familiar, Roku is a streaming device that connects to your television. Similar to Apple TV, Roku allows you to install streaming apps such as Netflix and Hulu (you still need to pay for your Netflix & Hulu subscriptions) and view the content on your television. Roku also has many more channels to install and view. Everything from sports, weather, and movies. I do pay for Netflix, even my frugal mind is fine with $8/month. However, I’ve been discovering a lot more free channels to add to my Roku home. If you have a Roku box or plan on getting one, here is a list of 9 free channels I watch frequently.
Sony Crackle
Television series, Movies and some original content. Rotating movies and TV series each month. One of the original series from Crackle was Jerry Seinfeld’s Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. I’ve also watched old episodes of All In The Family and News Radio on Crackle. Content will include ads periodically while watching shows.
The Roku Channel
Movies, Television, and News shows on a rotating basis.
WeatherNation
Enter your location and see current weather conditions, forecasts, and weather maps for your area.
RT
RT- Russia Today Roku channel, in addition to live streaming news, RT has on-demand content of a variety of News shows. I added this channel specifically for the show Redacted Tonight hosted by comedian Lee Camp – think of the Daily Show with a smaller budget. Jesse Venture show The World According to Jesse is also available on this channel.
PopcornFlix
On demand movies and television series. Lots of cult classics, and some block busters.
Tubi
I recently discovered Tubi. It was as though I found a channel of movies shown on USA Up All Night. I filled my que with classic 1980’s horror and comedy movies. In addtion, they have several classic movies from all decades and I even discovered dozens of episodes of the old Dick Cavett show! Strange and fascinating interview he had with Salvador Dali.
Roku Media Player
This channel/app is one of my most used. It’s not a streaming channel. What this channel does is allows you to watch video content from any hard drive. I have a hard drive with several movies/tv shows connected to my Roku box through a USB cable. Whenever we don’t have free wifi, I watch a library of old movies/tv shows I’ve had for years. Yes, I can watch Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Breakfast Club, Back To The Future…etc Over and Over and Over. 🙂
PLUTO
Another channel I discovered recently. Pluto has on-demand content, but what I really like about Pluto is the number of live channels available through the app. The home screen is set up like a SatTV/CableTV program guide. Scroll through dozens of live streaming channels and select what you want to watch. Some of the channels include Nerdist, SkyNews, CNBC, Bloomberg, Classic Movies Channel, Cracked, Stand-Up TV, Fox Sports, PeopleTV, Classic ToonsTV, Horror 24/7, Black Cinema, Action Movies, NBC & MSNBC News and many more. I love Pluto!
News Center Maine
The last channel I watch a lot is the local NBC News affiliate from my native land in Maine. News Center 6 is a Portland, Maine NBC affiliate. This channel keeps me up-to-date with what’s happening with my homeland while I’m away. Several local news channels around the country have streaming channels available, check to see if yours is available through the channel search on the Roku Box
In addition, the Roku box has a lot of other features that are excellent for RV-living. If you and your partner have different bedtimes, as we do, the Roku has earbuds that plug into the remote. Listening quietly without disturbing the beauty sleep of the other. Also, if you’re only a part-time RVer, add all your favorite channel apps to your Roku home screen…HBO, ID, ABC, ESPN, etc. You can sign-on to your SatTV/Cable TV provided and have access to the on-demand content of your favorite channels…or have a really nice friend with TV service that doesn’t want you to miss any episodes of The Game of Thrones. 🙂