Best Roku Private Channels and How to Install Them
As if Roku doesn’t have enough channels already, there is a decent selection of “private” channels that you won’t find in the Channel Store. Here are some of the best private channels to look out for.
Technically, private channels and apps are part of the Roku Channel Store, but are not publicly displayed. The channel can be private for a number of reasons: maybe it contains adult content, maybe it’s still in beta testing, or maybe it’s just an unofficial third-party channel for the service without any official app. You will not find them when browsing the Channel Store with your remote control, and you will need a passcode or link to install them.
Top private channels
There are hundreds of private channels, but you can find the very best channels in several places. For example, on The Nowhere Man website, you can access:
- Bloomberg News Live
- John Green’s Crash Course
- NBC Nightly and CBS News Archives
- NASA TV and Hubblecast HD
- Khan Academy Tutorial Videos
- Government channels such as C-SPAN, The Pentagon Channel, and White House Press Briefings
- International News from Al Jazeera (English, American and Arabic), BBC and CNN International
- TED Talks
- Swimming shows for adults
- PBS
- Universal sports network
- Live local news for most major areas
You can watch it all in one place by downloading this cool channel called Nowhere TV (code: H9DWC). The channel acts as a kind of channel concentrator with a little bit of everything. There are even subchannels of home and garden, cooking and spirituality. Some of the content is audio-only podcasts, but there is a lot of video. If you still want more, here are some of the other more interesting private channels and apps:
- Nowhere Bullet : Roku splash screen that shows your Pushbullet notifications (code: nowherebullet).
- Nowhere Tweet : Twitter reader and screensaver (code: V8MRS).
- Nowhere Vine : An app that plays Vines on your Roku (code: nowherevine).
- Unofficial Twitch : Let’s Watch All Twitch.tv Streams On Your Roku (Code: TwitchTV)
- Great Chefs: The Cooking Show was originally on PBS but is now a bunch of episodes available to watch anytime (code: greatchefs).
- Internet Archive : Huge collection of old movies, cartoons and TV shows (code: NMJS5).
- Amateurlogic : A video podcast channel dedicated to amateur radio, photography, computers, raspberry pi and other electronics projects (code: Alogic).
- Relax TV : only hours of tropical lagoons, rain showers, fireplaces and waterfalls for relaxation (code: vrqhq).
- Wilderness Channel : Full screen TV channel dedicated to hunting, fishing, survival education and nature (code: fl821095).
- Ace TV : Broadcasts 24/7 action, horror, science fiction and kung fu movies. May contain adult content (code: acev).
Keep in mind that these channels are either in beta or developed by third parties, so bugs are a reality that you may have to deal with from time to time – a small fee for free channels. You can find more private channels on sites like Roku-Channels.com , RokuGuide.com , StreamFree.tv, and RokuChannels.tv .
How to set up private channels
Once you’ve selected a few of the channels you want to add, setup is quick and easy. This can be done in two ways:
- Go to the Roku website, sign in with the account you used when setting up it, and go to the My Account page.
- Then click on “Add Channel” in the “Account Management” section. Once there, enter the channel code and click Add Channel.
Or you can find a link that automatically takes you to the add channel page and enters the code for you. It will have the same URL as the add channel page, but the code will be at the end. Either way works fine as long as the code is correct.
Once you’ve installed a channel or app, you’ll need to update your Roku for it to actually show up. They usually appear within 24 hours, but you can speed up the process by going to Settings> System> System Update. In a few seconds, your new channels will appear on the home screen. Do you know any interesting non-adult private channels? Let us know in the comments below.