The Roku Sports Channel is a new 24/7 FAST channel launching Monday. Combining all the Roku premium sports offerings into “a dedicated, one-click, lean-back experience,” it will feature live Major League Baseball games with the MLB Sunday Leadoff game, Emmy-nominated talk show “The Rich Eisen Show,” NFL program “GMFB: Overtime,” live Formula E races, and sports-themed Roku Originals like “NFL Draft: The Pick Is In,” “WWE: Next Gen,” and “Fight Inc: Inside the UFC.” The channel will also feature exclusive partner content, such as classic boxing matches from Top Rank and combat competitions from Swerve Sports. Continue reading Roku Launching Dedicated FAST Sports Channel Next Week

Roku introduced new ad products this week at the IAB NewFronts, touting opportunities to advertise on Roku’s home screen and within original content. That also includes its screensaver — dubbed Roku City — which McDonald’s is taking over for a summer promo. Roku also said it will be using contextual AI to automatically insert ads at appropriate moments in Roku Channel programming. In a twist on programmatic, Roku will train artificial intelligence on its advertisers’ marketing campaigns and messaging goals then have it scour the library for “iconic plot moments” that offer a good fit, inserting ads in real time. Continue reading Roku Rolls Out New Ad Products and Contextual AI Insertions

Roku, the streaming media platform with more than 63 million U.S. accounts, has taken the plunge into exclusive programming this past year. In addition to purchasing the Quibi library and spending a reported $97.8 million to buy the home improvement franchise This Old House Ventures, Roku Originals has funded the Funny or Die production “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story,” budgeted at $12 million. Roku Originals has also produced a movie adaptation of NBC’s canceled “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist” and greenlit fresh seasons of Quibi’s Kevin Hart-starrer “Die Hart” as well as the remodeling series “Murder House Flip.” Continue reading Roku Aims to Expand Its Audience for Original Programming

Discovery+ has become the first ad-supported plan among Roku Channel premium subscription offerings. Announcing the deal, Roku and Warner Bros. Discovery said Discovery+ brings 70,000 episodes of network shows and more than 200 originals to become the largest vertical library on The Roku Channel. Discovery+ on Roku TV will cost $7 per month for the ad-free version and $5 per month with ads. Both options are available now, with a 7-day free trial. The deal marks Roku’s first premium subscription for a video-on-demand tier supported by ads. Continue reading Discovery+ Is First Roku Premium Sub with Ad-Supported Tier

On August 13, Roku will debut 23 new Roku Originals, acquired from Quibi’s library, which will have an exclusive, ad-free run on the Roku Channel. Roku premiered 30 Quibi shorts in May. Among the new series are “Mapleworth Murders,” a “Murder She Wrote” spoof that earned three 2021 Emmy acting nominations. Roku head of original scripted programming Colin Davis, previously a Quibi exec, noted that, “the investment in Roku Originals is already paying dividends.” Roku has “about two dozen” more Quibi shows to roll out this year. Continue reading Roku Has Plans to Offer More Quibi Shows as Roku Originals

When Netflix founder Reed Hastings spun out Roku, the streaming video box in development, in 2008 and then sold his Roku shares to Menlo Ventures, he had no idea that this stake today would be worth almost $7 billion. Roku grew exponentially during COVID-19, with its shares rising 480+ percent from March 17, 2020; its market capitalization is now $45+ billion. The company, which went public in 2017, has become the dominant “intermediary” for streaming video distribution, with distribution to 50+ million households. Roku is now focusing on original content while continuing to expand its advertising.

Continue reading Roku Expands Advertising, Charts Strategy for New Originals