Is Roku the Answer?

[mecdatlanta]

Greetings All:

I visit this forum from time-to-time, but am definitely not a big contributor (Iceberg, I think you have us all beat there! BTW, do you look anything like the photo?). I appreciate this forum as a French-speaking Canadian who lives in Atlanta and wishes his children to grow up learning French (tv obviously plays a big role in that).

I am a Bell *Vu subscriber and have been for the past 7 years or so while living in the U.S.. No problems with the service, although I have been concerned lately about it being discontinued (according to rumors I have 1-2 years left, at most), and the fact that I cannot get HD down here in GA.

I have considered Shaw, but with all the hardware investments that I would have to make, in addition to a higher monthly fee (and now that the USD is worth LESS than the CAD!!!), it's kind of pricey. So I will likely stick with my Bell installation until they turn off the lights...

But then it occurred to me that Roku might some day be a solution. I realize that international programming is pretty weak at present, but I would suspect that it is only a matter of time before that changes. For that matter, isn't it only a matter of time before all of our programming becomes available over the internet (including all of those hockey games that many of the subscribers to this forum went out and bought this CDN hardware for in the first place?).

I was just wondering what some of the experts on this forum think about the future of satellite in light of Roku and other internet-based television options. For someone who is contemplating switching to Shaw at some point, I feel that I have nothing to lose by sticking with Bell and hoping for something exciting from Roku in terms of more international (in particular, French) programming.

Best,

mecdatlanta

 

[Juan]

Its too early to switch but they do seem to have alot of arabic and hindi programming. They do have a french news channel (in english) They also have private channel that carries most of the British TV channels (BBC1,2,3 and 4 also ITV). They have tons of international news channels. They are extremely weak general entertainment channels but they seem to be adding more every week. They have MLB,Hockey and basketball season tickets and are rumored to be one of the platforms for the NFL broadband package.

 

[carl066]

If-and-when you decide to go with an Internet media streaming device, ROKU is my recommendation. Although most blu-ray players now have Internet connectivity, they have agreements with only a few providers. ROKU has well over 100, and are adding more all the time. I'd say in a year or two, you'll be able to seriously consider dumping your satellite service, if you have a high-speed (> 6 Mb) Internet connection. Netflix currently streams 720P, and has indicated that 1080i is not far away. And of course 1080p is only available via Internet download.

Greetings All:

I visit this forum from time-to-time, but am definitely not a big contributor (Iceberg, I think you have us all beat there! BTW, do you look anything like the photo?). I appreciate this forum as a French-speaking Canadian who lives in Atlanta and wishes his children to grow up learning French (tv obviously plays a big role in that).

I am a Bell *Vu subscriber and have been for the past 7 years or so while living in the U.S.. No problems with the service, although I have been concerned lately about it being discontinued (according to rumors I have 1-2 years left, at most), and the fact that I cannot get HD down here in GA.

I have considered Shaw, but with all the hardware investments that I would have to make, in addition to a higher monthly fee (and now that the USD is worth LESS than the CAD!!!), it's kind of pricey. So I will likely stick with my Bell installation until they turn off the lights...

But then it occurred to me that Roku might some day be a solution. I realize that international programming is pretty weak at present, but I would suspect that it is only a matter of time before that changes. For that matter, isn't it only a matter of time before all of our programming becomes available over the internet (including all of those hockey games that many of the subscribers to this forum went out and bought this CDN hardware for in the first place?).

I was just wondering what some of the experts on this forum think about the future of satellite in light of Roku and other internet-based television options. For someone who is contemplating switching to Shaw at some point, I feel that I have nothing to lose by sticking with Bell and hoping for something exciting from Roku in terms of more international (in particular, French) programming.

Best,

mecdatlanta

 

[cebbigh]

I recommend getting the Roku box and trying it out while you still have Bell. The set up costs are minimal.

Livestation is a Roku channel and carries France 24 (3 channels: French, English and Arabic). The broadcast originates from Paris.
Roku also carries Tunein (radio) and that gets live radio feeds from anywhere around the globe.

 

[mecdatlanta]

Week 2 of Roku

I recommend getting the Roku box and trying it out while you still have Bell. The set up costs are minimal.

Livestation is a Roku channel and carries France 24 (3 channels: French, English and Arabic). The broadcast originates from Paris.
Roku also carries Tunein (radio) and that gets live radio feeds from anywhere around the globe.

Greetings Everyone,

I have to say that this Roku is really cool! I am not ready to cancel my Bell XpressVu any time soon (my wife would have my head), but I feel that I could be getting closer. There isn't currently a great deal of French options, but that will likely change. There is so much free and ad-supported content (a tiny fraction of the amount of ads you would see on "regular" tv), that I just can't see the networks ignore Roku users indefinitely (and they already are making a lot of content available via Hulu+, an inexpensive [about $8/mo] monthly subscription service offered via Roku). I would hate to be a cable or satellite tv operator right now. This is definitely a game-changer...

So for now, Roku is just a cool addition to my existing channel selection that I enjoy with Bell. With Roku, I can watch movies on demand, and gain access to an increasing number of free or ad-supported content. It's just a matter of time before Bell's decision to eventually turn off the lights here in the south won't make much of a difference to me.

mecdatlanta