Virgin Media Community

[idkwia]

I am not 100% sure what Roku Express is but it has been suggested to me that I can just buy it for about £30 and I no longer need to pay for Virgin Media although I of course I realise that I would need to pay for broadband. Does anyone here have any views on this, what would I miss out on if I got rid of VM and just had Roku Express? When answering please assume that I have very little idea what Roku Express or streaming TV is.

[Ernie_C]

... seems well explained on its website:

https://www.roku.com/en-gb/products/roku-express

[apcyberax]

you wouldn't have any of the channels. just the on demand services that are free or you pay for

[Roger_Gooner · Accepted solution]

Streaming sticks such as Roku smarten up dumb TVs by enabling you to watch services such as Netflix, YouTube and Amazon Prime. You plug the Roku into your TV's HDMI port and you need a decent WiFi connection to stream content to it. I bought a Roku last year but returned it as live US Open Tennis was not supported, so I got a competing Amazon Fire TV stick which did work.

The remote was fairly basic but worked well. All in all it's a good stick. Note that if you still want TV you can get Freeview but an external aerial is needed for guaranteed good reception, or there are other options such as a YouView box from BT, TalkTalk and Plusnet.

[idkwia]

Thanks Roger_Gooner for your helpful answer.

You say that I can get Netflix, YouTube and Amazon Prime with Roku, but I can get them already with Virgin Media?

US Open Tennis is something I would be interested in, so with the Amazon Fire Stick, did you have to pay extra to see the tennis?

Also, I don't have Sky Sports at the moment, am I right in thinking that with a streaming stick I can sign up for say a day or a week to Sky Sports and only pay for that short period?

[Roger_Gooner · Accepted solution]

---

@idkwia wrote:

Thanks Roger_Gooner for your helpful answer.

You say that I can get Netflix, YouTube and Amazon Prime with Roku, but I can get them already with Virgin Media?

Yes, but it costs a lot for a VM subscription.

US Open Tennis is something I would be interested in, so with the Amazon Fire Stick, did you have to pay extra to see the tennis?

You need to subscribe to Amazon Prime membership (cost £79pa I think) which does give you access to a whole load of other stuff.

Also, I don't have Sky Sports at the moment, am I right in thinking that with a streaming stick I can sign up for say a day or a week to Sky Sports and only pay for that short period?

The only Sky Sports passes I know about are those from Now TV, you can get a Now TV stick from retailers such as Argos.

---

[gunner1]

I have Roku Express and I'm using it for Amazon, Netflix and Disney plus as well as YouTube but have noticed BT is a new app available on Roku so BT subscribers can watch BT Sport on Roku so I want to see Virgin Go being available there too. 

I know VM would not do it because they want you to buy an extra box from them but if I am paying £72 per month for Bigger Bundle plus Sky Sports then isn't that enough. Do I need to give any more money for being able to watch it on a streaming device like Roku or Amazon stick?

Roku is worth it as it provides you with another TV to watch all of the above. 

[apcyberax]

Virgin will not do it as the broadcasters set the rules about streaming as part of the channel agreements

[newapollo]

Hi  gunner1,

have you tried sideloading the app onto your roku device?  Perform a google  search to see how to sideload apps.  You might also have to download an app such as catmouse. There's no guarantee it will work though.

[gunner1]

Thank you, might try it out. 

It's just when I saw BT being available on Roku that I thought they allow BT Sport on Roku so there's no exclusivity anymore for it not to be available in that way.