Roku's latest upgrade is all about live TV. Because they (like us) know that cutting the cord is all the rage right now. That's why the home screen of Roku devices now includes a new Live TV Zone, a section that brings together and organizes first-party and third-party Live TV services.

The Roku Live TV Zone touts the best streaming services like Sling TV and fuboTV, but that's only half the story; the first thing you see in the Live TV Zone is a "tile" in Roku's Live TV channel guide.

The Roku Live TV Channel Guide has been available since July 2020, which is why the Roku channel is one of our picks for the best free streaming service. This section features over 200 free live and linear TV channels - making it a lot like Pluto TV. These networks are ad-supported and offer a wide range of content, including news, sports, game shows, music, and (of course) TV and movies.

The Live TV Zone should appear (or should soon appear, as shown below) in the left-hand navigation menu of Roku.

But when it comes to Roku and Live TV, we are looking for something different. Sure, the Live TV Zone is a good start, but the Live TV Zone seems to be missing something.

Currently, Amazon Fire TV devices and Chromecast with Google TV allow integration with some Live TV service accounts. This means that both YouTube TV and Sling channel guides will appear on the Live tab, and the best cable TV alternatives will be integrated into the channel guide in the Live section of the Fire TV.

And this kind of integration is what Roku lacks: although the Live TV zone promotes these apps, it only ties in content from The Roku Live TV Channel Guide. And that's great for those who like to live stream free content.

But cord-cutting services are a big enough problem that I'd prefer to see them placed equally in the Live TV Channel Guide; if Roku wants to monopolize that spot, that's fine. But they should know that they still have work to do to catch up to Fire TV and Chromecast.

We love the Roku Streaming Stick 4K, which we are currently picking as the best streaming device, but it will get even better as Roku gets stronger on live TV.

Looking for something to watch on Roku? Find out how to watch "Station Eleven" episode 10 online.