Skip to main content

CNN+ lands on Roku today

A week after it soft-launched in web browsers and six days after it was officially available to nearly everyone else, CNN+ is now coming to the largest streaming platform in the United States — Roku.

It’ll require an update to the existing CNN Go app, which will be home to both live CNN content (which still requires some sort of live TV subscription), as well as all the new CNN+ content, which includes up to a dozen live daily shows, a handful of new original series, and more than 1,000 hours of programming. If the CNN Go app doesn’t update on its own, you can force Roku to check by going to the System Update section of the Settings menu.

It’ll be the same app whether you’re using a Roku player, or a Roku TV.

CNNGo app on Roku.
Phil Nickinson/Digital Trends

CNN+ also is where you’ll find the new “Interview Club,” which allows you to ask questions of the hosts and get answers on a semiregular basis. Think of it as part Reddit AMA, part Instagram Stories. But do note that it’s not actually available in the Roku app (or any other TV-based platform) just yet — it’s just on mobile and web browsers for now, for the obvious reason that you have to be able to type out a question in the first place. Questions will be moderated by an internal (and human) team at CNN+ before being shown online.

CNN+ costs $6 a month, or $60 a year. But you can get it for just $3 a month if you sign up by April 26, and you’ll be able to keep that price “for life” — or until you cancel your subscription. Original shows feature CNN names like Anderson Cooper, Poppy Harlow, Wolf Blitzer, Jake Tapper, Don Lemon, and Brian Stelter, as well as new(ish) ones like Scott Galloway, Rex Chapman, and more.

With its arrival on Roku, CNN+ is now available on every major streaming platform. That also includes Amazon Fire TV (which is the second-largest platform in the United States), Apple TV, Android TV and Google TV, as well as in web browsers.

Phil Nickinson
Phil spent the 2000s making newspapers with the Pensacola (Fla.) News Journal, the 2010s with Android Central and then the…
What is ESPN+? Live sports and more you can’t get anywhere else
ESPN+ app on a movile device.

ESPN is synonymous with sports on TV. It stands to reason, then, that ESPN+ gets you more sports. And it does, in that newfangled way that transcends sports on TV. ESPN+ is the future of ESPN in a live TV streaming world. Probably. Eventually. Sort of.

It's a little complicated. It's perhaps better at the moment to consider ESPN+ the streaming service complementary to ESPN the cable network. You can get some of what's on ESPN on ESPN+. But at the same time, ESPN Plus has a lot that you can't get on the cable network.

Read more
How much is Apple TV Plus?
Apple TV Plus home screen with Lessons in Chemistry.

It's been more than five years since the mighty Apple threw its hat in the video streaming service arena, and it's pretty safe to say that things are going pretty well. With its award-winning movies and series, Apple TV Plus has proven that it has a place on your streaming device among the Netflixes, Hulus, and Maxes of the world, with films like Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon and compelling original series like Severance, Dark Matter, Silo, and Slow Horses.

But one of the best things about Apple TV+ remains its relatively low price compared to more expensive options like Netflix and Hulu. Just how much is Apple TV+, and how can you save even more on your subscription cost? Read on to find out.
How much is Apple TV+?
Apple TV+costs $10 per month. You can also opt to pay $99 for an entire year of service, saving you 15%. However, customers who purchased an Apple TV, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, or Mac can get themselves three months of Apple TV+ for free. So if you buy some new hardware now, you can use Apple TV+ at no charge. Plus, all new customers are entitled to a seven-day free trial to sample the lineup of movies and shows.

Read more
Get ready to pay for more Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+
App icons for Disney+, Hulu and ESPN.

The price increases will continue until morale -- or the bottom line -- improves. The three streaming services that fall under the Disney umbrella -- that's Disney+, ESPN+, and Hulu -- are once again the subject of price increases. It's far from the first time, and very likely won't be the last.

Here's how everything shakes out this time around:

Read more