Roku is adding Premium Subscriptions to The Roku Channel. This means that alongside a wide range of free, ad-supported content, you'll be able to watch premium subscription channels including Showtime, Starz, and Epix. However, these won't be free. Unfortunately.

For the uninitiated, The Roku Channel is a free channel full of movies and TV shows. In October 2017 it became available to everyone with a Roku device. Roku later brought The Roku Channel to the web, but the website is only accessible in the U.S.

The Roku Channel Lets You Watch Movies for Free The Roku Channel Lets You Watch Movies for Free The Roku Channel -- a free channel offering hundreds of popular movies -- has now rolled out to all current-generation Roku devices. Read More

Roku Adds Premium Subscriptions

Roku is planning to add at least 25 Premium Subscriptions to The Roku Channel. Once these services have been added to The Roku Channel, users will be able to browse their entire catalogs and enjoy a seven-day (or more) free trial before they need to start paying.

Offering Premium Subscriptions means users users of The Roku Channel will be able to access a range of free content and any premium channels they subscribe to, through the same UI. Going the Roku route also means only paying a single bill using one account.