Mediafly channel coming to Roku Digital Media Player

Mediafly's podcast aggregation channel is coming to Roku.

(Credit: Mediafly)

Mediafly is coming to the Roku Digital Media Player later this year. The Mediafly channel will aggregate free-of-charge audio and video podcasts from a variety of providers, including Comedy Central, CNN, ESPN, and NBC. While these programs are easily available on a PC, the Mediafly channel should provide a quick and easy way to enjoy them on a TV or living room audio system as well.

Currently, Mediafly allows users to organize podcasts into customized feeds that are then available on a variety of Web-connected devices, including the iPhone, Zune, and Blackberry. (Check out CNET's coverage of the recently released Mediafly iPhone App for an explanatory video.) However, the Mediafly experience on the Roku will include streamlined access to the most popular 500 shows across 20 topics without the need to set up an account or manage any subscriptions. For example, the promo screenshot (above) highlights the comedy genre, and shows at least two Comedy Central stand-up podcasts, along with "Ask A Ninja."

The capability to access audio and video podcasts exists on competing products such as Apple TV and TiVo DVRs, but both of them are considerably more expensive than the $99 Roku box. Originally introduced as a Netflix-only playback device, the "Roku Netflix Player" has since expanded its roster of content providers, adding Amazon Video-on-Demand as well. Mediafly is the first of 10 new channels that the company has pledged to add by the end of 2009.

[suttonr]

you forgot to mention that they also carry CNET content :-P

[instybob]

Now we need Hulu on Roku.

[EarthMatters]

Agreed Instybob. Hulu, Pandora and Slacker would all be good additions.

[EarthMatters]

I hadn't heard of Mediafly before this article. Sounds promising. My family is getting a lot of value out of this $99 little wonder.

[MCWHAMMER]

While I am the biggest supporter of podcasts... I listen to them most @ work on my iPod. So I can only see this being satisfying if they carry the same casts as I already get. It would be great to see all of the True Blood video podcasts, as well as Lost video on my TV.

Definitely though, Roku is the best $99 any Netflix user can spend. I bought it for that (the day it came out), and now I'm so excited that they're bringing more. I have so much stuff to get through with my Netflix Instant Queue as it is!

@MCHammer,
Mediafly can actually aggregate any podcast. If you find a podcast that is not already in Mediafly you can add it via the "add feeds" link at the bottom of the site. It can take up to 24 hours to be fully indexed and available. After that it's part of the index for all users on Roku as well as the other devices we support such as iPhone, BlackBerry, Logitech, Chumby, etc.
Best,
Carson
CEO, Mediafly

[CarsonConant]

Mediafly can aggregate just about any podcast. If there is one that is not in the index yet jut add it via the "add feeds" link at the bottom of Mediafly.com. It will then be available for all users across all Mediafly partners and apps, such as Roku, iPhone, BlackBerry, Logitech, chumby, and more.
- Carson
CEO, Mediafly
Feel free to post any other questions here or on the Mediafly forum: forum.mediafly.com

[jwmpc]

Good. Now they have to find a way to sign in and view videos from a Hulu account and they can pretty much corner the streaming video market, at least on price.

[poorpete]

Hey John, as a former co-worker and Roku user, I'm glad to rely on you for all Roku news on new channels. Keep up the good work!

[guzmangm]

I'm all in favor of adding content to the roku box; i want to get one. However would all the extra content or apps that they run on slow the box down? We have a Directv dvr which is great in that new apps are being added to it quickly, i.e, media share, direct2pc, on demand, etc, etc... The only frustration is that all this extra stuff makes the dvr channel guide and on screen display slow as Christmas! That's the trade off as i understand now, however i'm not the only one who feels this way...

[jpfalcone]

I hear what you're saying. However, I think the Roku box is more like the iPhone, in that it doesn't really multi-task. With only one "channel" running at a time, I would think that performance should be unaffected. (We'll update our review accordingly when the new channels eventually surface.)

[MacDope]

Lovin the Roku...I'm a new Roku user; glad to hear it keeps getting better and better. The Mediafly announcement is great, and I'd love like to see Hulu/Joost and Youtube considered/integrated sometime in the future!!!