ROKU users

We got a roku stick.  So far loving' You Tube will be exploring other stuff.  Is there any way to record?  Are there any 'live' news channels- like PBS, BBC, Bloomberg etc.? I'd like to watch today;s news rather than yesterdays olds.

Kind of.

https://blog.roku.com/blog/2015/07/27/5-things-you-didnt-know-you-can-do-with-your-roku-player-or-roku-tv/

You have an old mindset. There's no point in recording stuff you can stream at any time, as many times as you want. No clutter, no mess.

Gotcha, Tom.

Anyone have an idea for 'live' streaming the news?

For live news, if you are a cord-cutter, you can use digital rabbit ears ($15) to tune in PBS and local news affiliates / national networks. I believe there are also audio-only live news channels on Roku devices. 

Live streaming news is not really big yet, if it ever becomes it. If you want a news show, you can see the show that aired yesterday, and that should be good enough. NPR is good for live news, and you can stream that.

Here are the PBS News Hour episodes on youtube.

I'm thinking of upgrading our antique DR tv.  It's only used for 30-45 mins for nightly news.  I have an HD antenna, but it calls for a set-up that I don't know how to do (so I haven't done it).  Would a new tv automatically set itself up w/ that antenna?   sort of plug & play.  Given the very lite use I'm looking for a low cost option... I'd like to return the fios stb and drop the $10 charge esp since I have the hd antenna.

BUMP

B U M P

CBSN is free and always available.  If you watch all the time, it can get repetitve, but it's a good reliable news source and gives you the chance to see segments of several CBS news shows - 60 Minutes, CBS Sunday, etc.  

One option we use is Channel Pear.  You sign up online for free and choose channels to subscribe to, then add Channel Pear to your Roku and you can watch the channels you signed up for. Up to five are included in the free option.  There are many channels but they are often unreliable.  But it has become our go to way to watch MSNBC and CNN which are the only two channels we have on Channel Pear now. Sometimes you have to restart the channnel and occasionally one will just stop working, but if you try again in 15 minutes it will be fine. The picture quality is not very good, but it works well enough

We also have an antenna (Leaf - free from Optimum) which gives us excellent reception for NJN (PBS) - which has BBC news, mostly good reception for CBS and a couple of Spanish stations that are good for watching soccer. We live half a block up from Valley St. so I'm happy to get anything via antenna.

Over-the-air antennas are pretty easy to set up. You just plug them in, then go to your TV's setup menu (every TV will be different) and have it do a channel scan. The scan takes five minutes or so. After it's done, you can remove the channels you will never watch (which is over half of them, generally). 

kthnry,

This is the thing  I couldn't do w/ this antique set.  I haven't got a manual and don't know if it could do this anyway.  Your comment implies that a new tv would do this plug & play style.  Does new tv have to be a smart tv?

Apollo, does your TV have any setup options? Does the remote have a Menu button? Can you post a picture of the remote?

this set is operated via our fios remote.  I have no idea where the orig one is.  It's SD only w/ rca plugs and rather small; the graphics are hard to read.  I'd like to get a new larger one, just not sure about smart vs dumb.  

A smart tv is not needed to do the automatic set-up and get the over the air channels.   Smart tv means it has internet connectivity.  It can give you some of the functionality of a roku but tv tends to be more limited and in my experience less user-friendly than roku or apple tv.

So all I need to do is get 27" HD dumb tv which connex to our OTA HD antenna.  That's what I orig'ly thought but that scanning set-up put the kebosh on the test run and those ideas.  Roku would be a bonus, if we want/need it.  Our antique roku works, very slowly, on this set.

Thanks everybody!

If you can watch FIOS TV on your TV, then it is new enough to do a channel scan. But it sounds like you're ready for a new TV.

I have a smart TV, but I find the performance for Netflix is better with the Roku.

If you have an old Roku then a Smart TV will probably be faster for many apps. I prefer to use Smart TV apps because I only need to keep track of one remote.

This is our current circumstance...  20" SD TV (Mfd during Lincoln's...) used, in the dining room, 30-45 mins/day for news via fios.  We don't have hulu or netflix.  

Goal: to get rid of fios in that room.  I can't set up our antenna with this tv.  I should be able to do that with a more modern set.  If yes, I will return the fios box, and it will be mission accomplished.  I will then use the roku elsewhere. 

@qrysdonnell- I have no idea what apps you're refering to.  This is a TV not a computer monitor.

NBC Sports is free for everyone on Roku and streaming online for the duration of the olympics.  Probably other platforms as well.  This app will cover almost all events in real time.