Roku’s best free TV channels

Roku streaming devices are best known for playing content from Netflix, HBO Max, and Disney+, but there’s so much more Roku owners may not even know about. If you dig through your app selection, you’ll find something called the Roku Channel, and hidden within it is a treasure trove of useful, entertaining, and bizarre live TV channels — all for the price of free.

It may look like a typical TV channel guide at first, but the Roku Channel’s free selection is full of things you’d never find in a regular cable package. Allow us to cut through the weeds and give you an idea of the best places to spend your precious viewing time when regular TV or big-name streaming services just won’t cut it.

News you can use

News is important.
Credit: Photo by Thomas Trutschel / Photothek via Getty Images

Before we get to the fun stuff, it’s worth pointing out that there are some genuinely useful channels available on the Roku Channel. Right at the top of the lineup (in the 100s, if you go by the arbitrary channel numbers Roku has assigned) are a bunch of 24/7 news feeds from mainstream sources like ABC News, NBC News, USA Today, and Bloomberg. That may sound about as exciting as watching paint dry to you, but for cord-cutters, it can be valuable.

If you check Facebook or Twitter and find out something big is happening, you might want to watch a live feed with clear, concise information instead of constantly refreshing your timeline for updates. This is particularly useful during national elections, for instance. Free access to competently delivered news is important, and though it might not be especially funny or weird, it’s one of the best things about the Roku Channel.

A place where MTV does play music videos

Music! On Music Television!
Credit: Pavlo Gonchar / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images

“Why don’t they play music videos on MTV anymore?” is both an incredibly trite observation at this point and wildly dismissive of the cultural significance of things like Jackass, The Challenge, and Jersey Shore. That said, there’s still something to it. It just isn’t as easy as it should be to turn on a TV and catch up on what’s popular in the music world.

The Roku Channel is here to help.

At the very end of the channel lineup, in the 1100s, you’ll find a few MTV-branded music video channels, as well as a handful of Loop-branded ones that just play music videos from a variety of genres, generally from the 1980s to now. In the age of the Spotify playlist, it’s kind of fun to put one of these on the TV while you work and let whoever curates these channels do the work for you.

The main reason I felt inspired to include these channels on this list is that the “MTV Block Party” channel reminded me that Madonna’s “Like a Prayer” is totally sick. That’s the kind of enlightenment you might receive if you check them out.

A display from the television series “Mystery Science Theater 3000” is shown at the Licensing Expo 2016 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center
Credit: Gabe Ginsberg / Getty Images

Channel 336 in the Roku Channel just plays old episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000 all day, every day, with the occasional Rifftrax thrown in for good measure. That’s one of the most specialized and specific TV channels of all time, albeit one with a genuine use and audience.

There’s something oddly comforting about knowing you can just throw on classic episodes of comedians doing bits and gags over crappy old films like Parts: The Clonus Horror, a wretched piece of sci-fi shlock that’s only noteworthy for having been ripped off for Michael Bay’s The Island. Seriously, there was a lawsuit and everything.

This channel represents what’s so fascinating and unique about the Roku Channel as a whole. It wouldn’t make much sense for a real cable or satellite provider to include a channel like this in anything but the most expensive packages, but Roku just gives it to you for free. Considering how beloved MST3K is, it’s good that it’s this easily available.

Chart the evolution of talk shows

Talk shows used to look a little different.
Credit: Gene Arias / NBCU Photo Bank

Maybe this won’t be interesting to everyone, but channel 345 literally only plays old episodes of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson all day. You can turn it on whenever you want and catch the template for the modern late-night talk show, where Carson, a master of his craft, conducts interviews with a little bit of actual substance to them instead of having conversations that just feel like promotional material for whatever the guest has coming out soon.

If nothing else, it’s a wild look at how aesthetics have changed since Carson was on the air (over four decades, no less). In one clip, he’s doing the classic late-night talk show host activity of playing with exotic zoo animals on an incredibly garish yellow couch. Put that in contrast to the overly slick, viral-clip-friendly sets you’d find on The Tonight Show these days, and you’d hardly believe the two are in the same medium.

It’s just cool to see a bygone era where talk show interviews felt more conversational and intimate, without a huge number of breaks for audience reactions. Plus, there’s a good chance Bob Newhart will show up on any given episode, and there’s nothing wrong with that. That said, sometimes Ronald Reagan shows up, too, so watch out.

Sweet, sweet 2000s nostalgia with a bit of Drake

I guess this guy is a musician now or something.
Credit: Amy Sussman / Getty Images

The Roku Channel is arguably at its best when entire channels are dedicated to airing one show 24/7, and that’s exactly what you’ll find on channel 392. It’s a nonstop barrage of everyone’s favorite Canadian teen drama that happened to feature a young Aubrey Graham: Degrassi: The Next Generation.

This channel is worth your time for a couple of reasons. First, you may have watched this show when it was airing, as it was extremely popular, partly due to its willingness to deal with subjects like drug use and mental illness among high school students. There’s nothing wrong with going down a nostalgia rabbit hole every now and then. Plus, as mentioned, Drake was a main cast member, which is a fact that just gets weirder over time.

Even if you missed out on the Degrassi phenomenon in its day, it’s a fascinating cultural artifact. The 2000s were a baffling time in culture, with music and fashion that will probably seem absurd to all the Zoomers out there. Heck, I was there, and all that stuff is weird to me. Whether channel 392 makes you yearn for a different time or glad that it’s over, go ahead and just bask in it for a few minutes.

And all the rest

There are dozens upon dozens of things to watch on the Roku Channel, more than could possibly fit in one list. Here are just a few other oddities you can find there:

• Channel 660 just shows episodes of Divorce Court

• “Tiny House Nation” on channel 455 is nothing but shows about people who live in tiny houses

• Channel 404 is dedicated purely to LEGO-themed programming

The Roku Channel is no substitute for a cable subscription, but you can sure waste a bunch of time browsing talk show interviews from 40 years ago, music videos from last month, or any of its other fascinating oddities.

Related Video: What to binge on the best 30-day streaming service free trials