Roku’s Q2 earnings came with the news that it added 1.9 million new active accounts and became the top selling TV OS in the U.S., according to the company. Roku now touts more than 73.5 million active accounts on Roku Players and Roku TVs, and claims that its number of sets sold beat the next three manufacturers combined. The company posted Q2 revenue of $847.2 million, an 11 percent increase year-over-year, against a net loss of $107.6 million. Advertising-supported Platform sales were up 11 percent, to $744 million, despite continuing troubles sector-wide. Continue reading Roku TVs, Unique Ad Units Drive Q2 Revenue Up 11 Percent

Video streaming tech company Roku has partnered with e-commerce platform Shopify to offer television viewers the ability to purchase products using their TV remotes. When a Roku Action Ad appears featuring a Shopify merchant, viewers can press OK on their Roku remote to get more information about the product and click to purchase directly from their TV. Consumers will be able to check out using Roku Pay. Roku explains Action Ads as “advertisements on Roku streaming devices that provide a down funnel action, such as sending users a text, scanning a QR code, or making a purchase.” Continue reading Roku Lets Customers Make Shopify Purchases with Remote

Netflix says it will preemptively purge its UK library of films and TV shows that run afoul of new streamer regulations being implemented by the British government. UK ministers are calling on media regulator Ofcom to police streaming content as it does traditional broadcasters, which means video-on-demand platforms including Netflix and Amazon Prime Video could face fines of up to $310,000 per instance for hosting “harmful material.” Draft legislation that seeks to codify “due impartiality” for streamers as part of the proposed Media Bill were rebuked by Netflix as “nebulous” and potentially “onerous.” Continue reading Netflix Threatens to Purge Content to Avoid UK Streamer Bill

Telly, the TV hardware startup led by Pluto TV co-founder Ilya Pozin, is shaking up industry business models by offering 500,000 smart TVs free to consumers willing to watch 24/7 ads on a split screen with streaming TV shows and movies. The ad-subsidized sets feature a dual-screen that includes a 55-inch 4K HDR display with a nine-inch “smart screen” mounted beneath. The smaller screen is where the ads will appear, running alongside feeds featuring information such as weather, stock reports, and sports scores. Powered by TellyOS, the sets also have a built-in five-driver soundbar. Continue reading Telly Offers Free Smart TVs Featuring Ads on Second Screen

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 managed a 1 percent increase in Q1 revenue on sales of $741 million. While sales in is platform segment were down 1 percent, to $635 million, the company had a positive performance on the streaming side, with 1.6 million active accounts added to take it past 70 million. Streaming service distribution, including FAST channels, is part of Roku’s platform services, along with ad sales, media and entertainment promotions and Roku Pay. In Q1, the Roku operating system was again the top-selling smart TV OS, with a record-high 43 percent of TV unit share in the United States. Continue reading Roku Adds 1.6M Streaming Accounts but Revenue Sluggish

Roku is upgrading to OS 12, which will offer improvements including to streaming live TV and sports, among other things. A concurrent mobile app update features a new home screen and new tools for account management and photo storage. The company also announced that new Roku-branded TVs will be sold exclusively through Best Buy and online. Unveiled at CES 2023, the Roku Select and Plus series TVs made by Roku are now shipping, with 11 models spanning two lineups that offer sizes ranging from 24- to 75-inches. Pricing starts at $150 and scales to $1,200. Continue reading Roku Updates OS, Adds News, Announces Best Buy TV Deal

The Dish Network’s Internet-streaming division Sling TV is being rebranded as Sling Freestream, offering free, ad-supported streaming television (FAST) and free, ad-supported VOD in attempt to better connect with consumers who don’t want to pay monthly subscription fees. Although the Sling live TV service was already free, the move sees it doubling down in the sector by expanding from 150 to 210 free channels with 41,000-plus on-demand titles. Sling Freestream users will also be able to subscribe to 50-plus standalone streaming services, including Showtime, Discovery+, MGM+ and AMC+. Continue reading Dish Network’s Sling TV Is Reimagined as ‘Sling Freestream’

The Roku and Tubi streaming platforms are the first partners for Warner Bros. Discovery’s new FAST channels, helping WBD CEO David Zaslav’s promise that the company would be “aggressively attacking” the free, ad-supported streaming TV market in 2023. This spring the WBD FAST channels will launch on the Roku Channel, which will additionally add another 2,000 hours of WBD on-demand programming, via more than 225 ad-supported titles. Tubi, which is owned by Fox Corporation, began introducing WBD content this week, with plans to add three new FAST channels — WB TV Family, WB TV Reality and WB TV Series. Continue reading Warner Bros. Discovery to Debut Roku, Tubi FAST Channels

YouTube is embarking on tests of a new FAST channel hub. The move is the latest by the Alphabet-owned platform to expand its ambitions to become a full-service video provider. YouTube is reported by The Wall Street Journal to be in talks with entertainment firms about featuring films and TV series in a configuration not unlike that typically offered by cable (i.e., packaged) and is testing the approach with a limited number of media companies in anticipation of a potential full-on launch later this year. Deployment of a free, ad-supported TV hub would put YouTube on a path to become a go-to destination for general video in competition with entities such as Roku, Pluto TV and Tubi TV. Continue reading YouTube Tests Waters with Hub of FAST Streaming Channels

Roku, whose software the firm claims is used in a third of U.S. TVs, will release its own line of televisions this year. The San Jose-based company, known for its smart TV OS, plans two models: the Roku Select and a higher-end Roku Plus, according to an announcement at CES 2023. Available in 11 models ranging from 24- to 75-inches, the Roku Select and Plus Series TVs will focus on streaming features associated with the brand, with prices ranging from $119 to $999. The new Roku TVs will include access to free live TV, news, and sports, plus popular Roku features like Find My Remote and Private Listening. Continue reading CES: OS-Supplier Roku to Launch Its Own Line of Smart TVs

Spotify is estimated to have a one-third share of the global music-streaming market, and now the company is making a mark in B-to-B with Backstage, an open-source framework for building developer portals that is now in use by an estimated 200 companies, including American Airlines, Netflix, Roku, Epic Games, VMware and LinkedIn. Backstage centralizes management of engineering tools, resources and documentation — from CI/CD status and Kubernetes monitoring to API and library docs and more. While Spotify has made Backstage available free, it’s now introducing a package of five premium plugins via paid subscription. Continue reading Spotify Launches Premium Plugins for Backstage Framework

Fireside, a streaming platform co-founded by Mark Cuban and Falon Fatemi, has acquired Stremium, which it will use to leverage Fireside onto Amazon Fire TV, Roku and other connected smart TV devices. Fireside is a streaming app that offers members an opportunity to interact with the platform’s founding talent, including Jay Leno, Craig Kilborn, Melissa Rivers and “Entourage” creator Doug Ellin as they appear live on their Fireside networks or shows. Stremium is a cloud DVR and live TV platform that lets consumers link their live channel providers through a single portal. Continue reading Mark Cuban’s Fireside Acquires Stremium to Gain TV Access

Cinedigm, a streaming firm that debuted its Cineverse platform this summer, is introducing the ability to rent fresh theatrical films via a partnership with ROW8, a subscription-free cinema OTT service launched in 2018. Cinedigm says the partnership allows it to market content on Cineverse that’s “still in theaters” via TVOD (transactional video on-demand). The agreement is reciprocal, with ROW8 able to offer Cinedigm’s own upcoming theatrical releases to Android and iOS, Apple TV, Google TV, Roku players, Vizio and other mobile devices. Cinedigm claims to be platform agnostic. Continue reading Cinedigm Teams with ROW8 to Bring ‘Still in Theaters’ to TV

With research showing TVs are the biggest growth platform for YouTube Shorts, the streamer is rolling out its purpose-built player for HDTVs worldwide, starting this month. The YouTube Shorts on TV player will work with recent-model smart TVs, game consoles and streaming devices such as Roku and Google’s Chromecast. Users will now see a “Shorts shelf” on the homepage of their YouTube TV app, or the Shorts can be launched directly from a creator’s channel. YouTube Shorts are seen on about 1.5 billion mobile devices monthly, and this move is designed to increase views. Continue reading New YouTube Shorts Feature Is Optimized for HDTV Screens