The Roku Channel is now available as a Google TV app

By Phil Nickinson July 12, 2023

The Roku Channel app on Google TV. — Phil Nickinson/Digital Trends

The Roku Channel — one of the major services in the FAST category — is now available as an app on Google TV and Android TV. That’s a good thing because The Roku Channel says it already reaches an estimated 100 million people in U.S. households with its wealth of free movies and series.

But it’s also still a step removed from competing services like the Paramount-owned Pluto TV, which has direct integration with the Google TV live listings and doesn’t require a separate download. Still, it’s more free content on a low-cost piece of hardware, and who doesn’t like that? The Roku Channel sports more than 350 free live linear channels (as in everyone is watching the same thing at the same time), as well as movies and series, live news, and more.

To get The Roku Channel on Google TV and Android TV, just search for it in their respective app stores. From there, you’ll be able to watch all you want — no sign-ups and no subscriptions. You will, however, have to sit through some ads. And that’s what services like The Roku Channel are all about. The “FAST” mentioned above stands for free ad-supported television. Basically, you get to watch something and all you have to do is suffer through a few minutes of advertising. And it’s not the worse deal in the world. You’ll find some surprisingly good content on FAST services — The Roku Channel included.

The Roku Channel is available for download now on Android TV and Apple TV. It’s also available on Roku devices, Amazon Fire TV, and in a web browser.

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