LOS GATOS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Roku, Inc. today announced the launch of “The Roku Channel,” a new streaming channel on the Roku platform specifically dedicated to giving customers free access to a collection of top films and more. Customers will enjoy award winners and big screen classics, whenever they want at no cost. There are no subscriptions, fees or logins required to access The Roku Channel – it is ad-supported and expected to have, on average, approximately half the advertising per programming hour as compared to traditional ad-supported linear TV.
“We’re always looking for ways to add value and make TV better for our customers,” said Rob Holmes, Vice President of Programming at Roku. “With The Roku Channel, we’re responding to consumer demand and helping content publishers deliver content through a new experience that makes finding free entertainment easy for our customers.”
The Roku Channel will feature quality films such as Ali, The Karate Kid, Legally Blonde, and many others from leading studios including Lionsgate, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Sony Pictures Entertainment and Warner Brothers among others. The Roku Channel will also help existing channel publishers drive additional viewership of their content on the Roku platform. Publishers participating include American Classics, Fandor, FilmRise, Nosey, OVGuide, Popcornflix, Vidmark, and YuYu; others are expected to be added over time.
“There is a tremendous opportunity for our content to be viewed on the Roku platform,” said Danny Fisher, Chief Executive Officer at FilmRise. “Now with The Roku Channel launch, Roku is offering its customers even greater value by giving them free content while enabling publishers like us to benefit from simple discovery that drives greater engagement.”
Currently, the Roku platform in the U.S. offers a collection of more than 5,000 channels with access to 500,000 movies and TV episodes. Additionally, users can easily search and find content from more than 500 channels with unbiased results sorted by price.
The Roku Channel will be available through a phased roll out over the coming weeks. Once available for their device, customers can easily add the channel from the Roku Channel Store and begin using it for free.
About Roku, Inc.
Roku pioneered streaming for the TV and aspires to power every TV in the world. As of the end of June 2017, Roku OS powered TV streaming for 15+ million monthly active accounts which streamed nearly 7 billion hours of video and music in the first half of 2017. Roku is known for streaming innovation and high customer engagement, offering content providers and video advertisers the best way to reach streaming audiences. Roku streaming players and Roku TV models are available in 10 countries through direct retail sales and licensing arrangements with TV OEMs and service operators. The company was founded by Anthony Wood, inventor of the DVR. Roku is privately held and headquartered in Los Gatos, Calif. U.S.
Roku is a registered trademark and Roku TV is a trademark of Roku, Inc. in the U.S. and in other countries.