i remember 10 yrs ago there was a whole underground of private roku channels — weird retro tv stuff, niche international channels, sketchier stuff. heard they killed all that. anything left or is it all mainstream channel store now
roku killed the private channel system officially in march 202 2. there is no more "enter this code to unlock a secret channel." you can only install what's in the channel store
RIP to the old days. i had a great retro cartoon channel on there
OP: man. i figured but hoped. any way to get similar stuff now
for retro tv specifically, check out the pluto tv app (free, in roku channel store). they have channels like classic sitcoms, classic westerns, mst3k, etc. not as niche as the old private stuff but there's gold in there
also tubi, crackle, and the roku channel (roku's own free thing) have a lot of obscure content
shout out to channels that used to exist: nowhere tv, twit tv, the one with all the old commercials. all gone from roku. you can sometimes find similar stuff on other platforms now tho
if you want really obscure/niche content in 2024 your options are:
roku is a walled garden now, basically. love it or hate it
i switched to fire tv stick specifically because you can sideload android apps and it's way more flexible. roku is great for grandma-level simplicity but not for tinkering
OP: makes sense. maybe time to get a fire stick. thanks all
the golden era is over my friend. enjoy pluto tv and pour one out
Start with a full-feature demo — no credit card needed.