What you need to know
- The Roku Channel is becoming deeper integrated with Google TV devices, including televisions, set-top boxes, and Chromecasts.
- You can now search for The Roku Channel content in Google TV, find it on the home screen, and in Google TV's collection of live TV channels.
- Roku says that it offers more than 80,000 movies and TV shows completely free as part of The Roku Channel.
Google TV already offers a bunch of free content on its platform, including The Roku Channel. However, it will become much easier to discover and use The Roku Channel on Google TV thanks to deeper integration between the two services, Roku announced today. This will bolster Google TV's free content and make it easier to find and watch the tens of thousands of movies and TV shows made available as part of The Roku Channel.
Roku first added The Roku Channel to Google TV last year, in limited form. There wasn't support for Google TV's search or discoverability functions at the time. That's beginning to change, as Roku says a more integrated experience will be available "in the coming weeks." For starters, Google TV users will be able to search for content from The Roku Channel using the native search function in Android TV.
Additionally, 500 live TV channels from Roku will join the live tab on Google TV. The platform already offers nearly 1,000 free or ad-supported live TV channels, and the new ones from The Roku Channel will provide even more options, including channels with news, sports, cooking, DIY, music, and other types of programming.
A big part of Google TV is the platform's recommendations. There is so much free content on the platform that some users might want help finding what to watch next, and Google recommends content based on your previous watch history. Soon, free Roku movies and TV shows will appear in the Featured on The Roku Channel, Continue watching, and Free live TV on the Google TV home screen.
Roku says that the free content available via The Roku Channel includes select live MLB games, ABC News broadcasts, and over 80,000 movies and TV shows.
Whether you have a brand-new Google TV Streamer or an older Chromecast, your Google TV device will get The Roku Channel integration. It'll also be available on any third-party device with Google TV built-in. If you want to get an early look at the content that'll become more closely engrained in your streaming device, you can try out The Roku Channel on Google TV, Fire TV, Samsung devices, and the Roku web and mobile apps.
