Removing channels from a TV lineup over carriage disputes is common in the pay-TV business. That legacy has found its way into the streaming TV business, but the blackouts are now about apps, with Roku removing the Charter Spectrum app as the latest example.
Charter was an early adopter of expanding pay-TV package access to the app based world of streaming TV. By introducing the Charter Spectrum app, subscribers could access their Spectrum subscription, including live-TV channels, through streaming STBs like Roku and Apple TV.
But in with the new and out with old doesn’t hold true for everything, as streaming TV blackouts are now becoming all too common. The issues are the same and revolve around money and access. Roku is stopping new downloads of the Charter Spectrum app until the two can work out a new carriage agreement.
One main difference with this Roku dispute is existing Spectrum app users aren’t impacted, at least not yet. Carriage of apps on a platform involve complex negotiations around revenue sharing, particularly with advertising revenue.
There are other issues too, and as the largest streaming TV platform, Roku has some considerable power in these negotiations. According to its latest quarterly earnings report, Roku has 46 million active accounts. To put that in perspective, the largest cable and broadband operator, Comcast, has close to 33 million residential customer relationships.
The Roku Spectrum moves aren’t the first Roku has taken against video providers. Roku has wielded this power before. Just ask AT&T, which has been trying to get the new HBO Max app on the Roku platform for months.
Comcast and Roku were also involved in a dispute over Comcast/NBCU’s Peacock streaming app. That dispute included dragging in NBC’s other content apps, including local broadcast channels. It was eventually worked out but did include the all too familiar game of chicken over blacking out content
I only bought the roku because spectrum said I could save money on the cable box if i just streamed through the roku so now I am taking the roku back to the store …
You could also stream with Chromecast if you have a Chromecast through the spectrum TV app.
Can you please explain? Is there still a way to stream spectrum channels through my roku box?
Extreme there’s no way you can stream your spectrum cable through the spectrum app on a Roku TV anymore until spectrum and Roku come to an agreement.
I’m having buffering issues, but I’m streaming Spectrum via Roku. I was warned not to remove the app, I wouldn’t be able to get it back in the Roku app store.
I’m actually watching it now but I already had the app downloaded b4 this started
Once the SpectrumTV app activated, users may access individual channel apps at no additional charge.
I haven’t lost a day of streaming in roku it just want let new people download spectrum but current users before 12/14/30 can watch still
Bring up on your phone and screencast
Also on your phone and cast to your tv
I did the same thing-3 roku boxes to keep from having those big cable boxes & save rental of boxes. It’s too late for me to take back the ROKU boxes?. Instead of serving customers like they should, it’s all about greed and wanting more of the almighty dollar. One big problem, both ROKU and Spectrum have no way of expressing customer opinions.
I agree Greg. I am being charged $15 a month more on my Spectrum bill because I added spectrum app on my Roku. I guess I am going to have to contact spectrum to have the charge removed from my spectrum bill. This sucks.
You don’t pay more on your bill to use the spectrum app on roku… you lower your bill by returning the tv box’s that cost 5 bucks a month and replace it with your roku devices… or atlest that is how it was befkre december.
I called Spectrum this evening about an issue with streaming issues with Spectrum’s app through Roku!!
I was told by the representative that Spectrum has dropped Roku, but….as long as I don’t delete the Spectrum App on Roku, I can continue to watch the Spectrum app until December 15, 2022! Which is when the service on Roku will officially end!
Unfortunately, where I live, you are only allowed to have cable service in one room! That’s why I purchased Roku in the first place. To use on a second tv! Wow!!
Unbelievable!
is this true for Dec 15 2022 the spectrum app will end on all Roku s?
So I brought a roku and now they have issues with charter spectrum…I shouldn’t of never gotten these tvs I should of kept my other tv with a firestick…that had many apps.. I guess now people not gonna be buying a roku and go bk to cable boxes..!
Sorry buddy I got screwed the same way…paying for streaming plus the service I wanted.. 65 years old.. taken advantage of.. they owe 900.$
Roku’s remote is horrible! Would not recommend. Only got Roku because of Spectrum app.
Yeah the whole interface for Roku could use a overhaul as far as how slow it is. It’s ridiculous that they have to recommend to use an SD card to load apps faster. Here’s a great idea how about put more memory on the actual box that you’re selling people..lol
You have an old, outdated roku. They were slow. They were early technology. Buy a decent roku and you wont have that issue.
Roku costs $79 and a 32 gig sd card is $15.
A 32 gig Apple tv costs $179. Do the math!
I have an sd card in my roku and do not have a problem with slow downloads.
I have used roku for 8 yrs and love it. I also have 2 rokus and 2 roku tvs!
I contacted spectrum cuz I had to reset my TV and I have their TV app with just my local channels music channels and mtv2 VH1 bet TBS sci-fi channel etc when I found out that they dropped Roku TV I realized that they lost money as a customer into they get it back up again looks like I won’t be watching the ball drop this year thanks to Roku and spectrum
Probably going to just drop my Spectrum Cable service and go with something else then like hulu or sling. Not being forced to spend $5/month for cable boxes for like 5 TVs. I’ll keep roadrunner services obviously.
Roku costs $79 and a 32 gig sd card is $15.
A 32 gig Apple tv costs $179. Do the math!
I have an sd card in my roku and do not have a problem with slow downloads.
I have used roku for 8 yrs and love it. I also have 2 rokus and 2 roku tvs!
I agree, I had to buy a universal remote just because they’re a tiny little remote is not very intuitive.
Me too.
ROKU like so many other things, start out great, but eventually go down the drain
My onn roku tv in my living room works great with streaming roku but the onn roku I just got for my bedroom I can’t watch roku channel on it or live tv I mean c’mon I can’t watch roku on my roku tv what the crap.
This makes no sense…. if your trying to say you can not download the Spectrum app on your new tv, thats the whole point of this new issue… you can not… but the Soectrum app is not the same as ” watching roku” roku is the service that gives you the choice of hundreds of apps… like the Spectrum app. So no, you can watch Roku services on your Roku tv you can’t watch Spectrum on a roku tv any more.
You can watch Spectrum on Roku “if ” you downloaded the spectrum app prior to them removing the spectrum app from the Roku line up. Since I have had the Spectrum app previously downloaded it still works until 2022,
The remote suck as you can not control nothing but the device smh. Too bad the firestick doesn’t have the app or local channels I would dump this roku for sure
Youd need a roku ultra or stick plus in order to control the TV itself. I’d reccomend the chromecast with Google TV built in. It’s only 49.99
I had it to and now roku doesn’t have it not on the search bar
I love my music ROKU and have had it for years.
Question: As long as we have internet and can stream channels, would we be saving money by discontinuing our cable service?
Has anyone done this? If so please share your experience/comments.
I would greatly appreciate it!
Thank you!
At first it seems like you are saving money, but they are already screwing you. I get internet for 17$ a month because I dropped reg cable and said I would stream. The total with modem and wifi rental it went to 44, then after 3 months they through in fees and unexplained taxes and not has gone up to 65$ 2 months later. It is a money scheme and it is always buffering during the part of the program that is most important bam black screen it is not worth it either way, the price will slide back up, thats their design.
$17 internet is the internet assist. Lower cost and lower speed. $65 is the cost for standard internet with the WiFi router. You changed the speed, the company didn’t do it themselves. But, it sounds better for you the way you put it.
THAT issue is between you and your internet provider. The majority of people have internet and tv in the house. So many are canceling tv and paying 10 bucks for netflix and a few for hulu, and thats more than enough for most people.
Just switch internet providers on a regular basis to get the best price. Make sure it’s a month-to-month plan so you don’t get locked into a contract
I’m paying $142 in FL for tv and internet NOT counting the two boxes and now have to watch any spectrum channel on the phone or tablet since we deleted it troubleshooting (The two boxes have outdated software, taking them back). If I’m going to have to cast it to the tv and buy extra comcast equipment to so so, cheaper to get a dedicated phone with unlimited data.
I canceled my cable 2 years ago and have used internet for only one reason. MONEY. If we all stop giving in to spectrum they may realize we get more TV then commercials
I love Rpko nothing to buy. Only charge you get. Are low cost apps
I use a Anntenna for local stations
It depends on what tv music channels you are watching but on the Roku itself you can get so many music channels, you tube being #1 advertised but just search music, most are all free if you are using and there also is so much to watch, you are definitely wasting money on a cable provider provider. There are also so many streaming apps for television television on roku, if you get to missing a certain channel or show you will find it available on roku, just have to keep internet is all, good luck to you and Happy New Year!?
I’ve found Roku hardware to invariably overheat and lock up. All I get out of Roku is crap service headaufag
You have a cheap, or very old roku. My 30 dollar unit is instant, fast, and has never heated.. even my old roku 2 ,while a bit slower, has never gotten hot.
I had it to and now roku doesn’t have it not on the search bar
I’ve found Roku hardware to invariably overheat and lock up. All I get out of Roku is crap service headaches. Your designers don’t listen to user complaints & headaches,
THIS ISN’T ROKU FAULT ITS SPECTRUM FAULT MAINLY THERE TRYING TO GET CUSTOMERS BACK ON THE CABLE BOXES AGAIN SO THEY CAN SCREW YOU OVER WITH A CABLE BOX AND REMOTE FEE.
THAT’S WHAT THIS IS ABOUT AND SPECTRUM IS TRYING TO STOP IT.
THATS WHY PEOPLE IN THE ROCHESTER AREA ARE SWITCHING TO GREEN LIGHT NETWORK AND USING HULU AND YOU TUBE TV AND OTHERS SO THEY DONT HAVE TO GET NICKERED AND DIMED ALL THE TIME WITH THERE PRICE RAISING MANEUVERS .
The more platforms the app is available on, the easier it is to provide service to more people. Your theory is flawed. There are on contracts, so people can leave Spectrum freely. How many other providers will buy your current contact and NOT put you into a contract of their own?? Zero that I’m aware of. You sir, are a one star hero. Education is key to not looking like an idiot. Good day.
What is Green Light?
ROKU HERE ANOTHER THING YOU DIDN’T KNOW THOUGHT YOU TO THINK ABOUT
YOU CAN DOWNLOAD ON ROKU THERE STREAMING CHANNELS FOR FREE THEY ARE
PLUTO TV
CRACKLE
TUBI
HGTV
PEACOCK
MAX TV
OAN
APPLE TV
THOSE ARE FREE STREAMING YOU DONT HAVE TO PAY FOR THEM BUT IF THEY ARE ON SPECTRUM YOU HAVE TO PAY EXTRA FOR THEM.BECAUSE THEY WANT YOU TO PAY FOR EVERYTHING.
WOAH. CALM DOWN WITH THE CAPS.
I had the spectrum app and was watching it just fine then all of ansudden I couldnt log in because spectrum told me I had to pay an extra 24.99 to stream channels but I already pay 65 for internet. And I had already been watching it. This happened beginning of November. So I just logged in under my parents who have spectrum and watch. Yeah I don’t get all the channels because I’m not on the “home wifi” but I get all the channels I watch anyway. So screw you spectrum. I found a loophole…for now 😉
Spectrum yeah its them ,I’ve notice I called them they said it’s roku that don’t want to allow Spectrum, and came up with so many things like other devices I can add ,fire sticks ect.and that’s not true they don’t work plus the apps they bring is already on the rokuand many smart tv,but I see all they want is people to add more cabel box and I can’t..I can get antena but for what I pay for better channels and that’s my plan so I guess I don’t need Spectrum and omg this is a mess now I just have a roku for nothing
I only stream, with no cable subscription. Been doing this for about 3yrs now.
People UNDERSTAND Spectrum will LIE to you just to get your MONEY …. Myself I don’t trust SPECTRUM one bit only have tv signal cause stuck in an APARTMENT and not allowed Direct TV …. Less money to them dishonest company !!!!!!!
I love all 7 of my roku, I have spectrum select, I think it’s called, I pay for 10 channels I pick on that tier, there is different tiers, price goes up too, But, spectrum seems to go up in price ALL the time, sooooo, with that in mind goin to antennas, to get local channels, & just keep internet(as that went up to w/spectrum)spectrum is the only Good one we have in up north woods area, without being limited on your internet streaming. With that being said roku is Great, spectrum is high priced!! Is always going up up up all the time. Love ROKU!!!
My Roku Spectrum app was performing oddly. So I was going to remove and reinstall it to see if that would improve performance. Little did I know that Roku dropped the Spectrum app. I removed the Spectrum app but am now unable to download and reinstall it.
Same here.. yesterday! It was giving me buffering & freezing trouble so as I have done as a last resort & per directions BTW .. I deleted spectrum app.. don’t .. now nit available & I’m trying to figure out what I can do.. we have 5 cable boxes but I use Roku in my room .. I’m ticked! Any newer news!
Until Roku agrees to add Spectrum TV app to store, you can log into your favorite channel apps at no additional cost.
Same here. I’m ready to drop both, but no real option here besides spectrum.
Can I keep my Spectrum Tv app on roku even though it is not in roku store that I pay for of their Services since I pay for the cloud DVR and The service fee of the Spectrum tv app Services
My Spectrum app stopped working last night on one of my Roku’s. It kept telling me I needed to sign up for Spectrum first and gave me a phone number to call but didn’t try to give me the option of signing in. I (very stupidly) removed the app from my Roku thinking I could just reinstall it. When I found out the issue I checked my other Roku and the app had been deleted off that one too! That didn’t make sense because even though they are signed in to the same account I thought the two different devices were somewhat independent? Anyway, I’m not sure if I should be angrier at Spectrum or Roku right now. And be sure to Google first before doing anything!
You are the one that removed the app… it was your fault. If you kept up with the new about your service providers, you would have known that you couldnt reinstall.
Enter Developer mode on the Roku. Log into roku from computer. Download Spectrum app (have not been able to find it yet but it will turn up very soon) Upload it to Roku. Problem solved. Had same issue with HBO Max. Sideloaded it and it worked great.
you referenced sideloadong an app, what format is the file and you referenced HBO Max, where did you get the file from
Hey is this how I can actually add the spectrum app back to my Roku TV? If so how do I get into developer mode? Thanks..
can you please tell me a bit more. I read a bit on roku about developer mode. It uses secure access points>? Not sure how to work around that? I am currently stuck with a soundbar that I thought was acting up so did a factory reset and no more spectrum app…. I am so frustrated… and know there has to be a way to reinstall the app in a different way
I only bought the Roku to get the cloud dvr. As of right now the spectrum app isn’t able to have cloud DVR on Samsung TVs. Can’t wait till spectrum figures that out.
That’s some b.s. The two need to work this out. The app made viewing channels a lot easier..
is this true for Dec 15 2022 the spectrum app will end on all Roku s?
I hope roku can come to an agreement on spectrum app for updating anything you want.
the app messed up on mine and you can’t reinstall if roklu gave a shit they would have told everyone they are being cheap!they want to app for free! I got a bigger tv don’t buy a roku tv from Walmart if you want spectrum app! Buy a TV with a name! Samsung tv will have no problem!
It does not matter what brand TV you buy. Some have Roku built in, some do not. But no matter how you access ROKU (on a TV brand with Roku built in, or on a TV Brand without Roku built in but that you have plugged in a Roku “stick”) it will NOT have the ability to access the Spectrum APP. You can still access Spectrum on any TV (Roku or not) but you have to pay for a cable box for a price of $7.50 per month for each TV. This has nothing to do with TV brand (TCL, LG, Samsung), nor size of TV. It is a dispute between Roku and Spectrum. Spectrum does not want to pay the amount that ROKU wants to carry the Spectrum app. They can’t reach a compromise. Have no fear it will be settled eventually. AT&T went through this with ROKU and after 4 or 5 months it was settled. HBO MAX is currently having the same dispute. Now Spectrum.
For those who have an Amazon Fire stick, Fire TV, etc. You can download and use the Spectrum APP. Go to Google. Search on “How to install spectrum TV app on Firestick”. Follow the directions you will see there.
Spectrum cable is way overpriced anyways. If they don’t settle by December then I’ll just cancel my cable subscription. I’d keep the internet because I have no other viable options. But I’ll be fine with hulu or sling.
I ordered a trial for spectrum sometime just before Christmas for my new Roku TV. We rarely watch television, so the price was right UNTIL I was unable to download the app. I am calling Spectrum right now. I thought maybe I was just doing something wrong. Nope! Why sell the service and not tell me I can’t use it on my new TV?
Try getting the spectrum app on your mobile phone and casting it to your big screen tv. That is one way to get around not having a spectrum app on your television set. I have a cable box on my ONN Roku TV 50 in from Walmart because the spectrum app no longer works on Roku TVs. I don’t have to buy an extra cable box for my Vizio 55-in because I can just stream the spectrum TV app to the Vizio TV now. So now I don’t have to have two cable boxes and from what I’ve heard from customer service reps spectrum has no problem with streaming their service on other TVs as long as you at least have one of their boxes that you’re paying for. That’s actually not a bad deal for every TV you can stream to you cut the price in half and so on and so forth
Im so sick of this crap with spectrum. They have the worst customer service. So now I had to get a cable box to watch my local channels and another damn remote that doesnt work well with my TV. Spectrum could have sent out an explanation to their streaming customers letting us know what was going down with the app. But no warning and we just have to eat it. Im so sick of this type of attitude no one cares about anything anymore.