Roku Adds 4.6M Users Last Quarter to Rise to 70M; 23.9 Billion Hours Streamed in Q4 2022
On Wednesday, Roku unveiled its earnings report for the final quarter of 2022. The company reported its ad-supported video-on-demand (AVOD) and free ad-supported TV (FAST) service The Roku Channel had added 4.6 million monthly active users, bringing its total to 70 million. The growth represents a 16% increase over the corresponding quarter in 2021.
The service saw 23.9 billion hours streamed total in Q4, an increase of 2B over last quarter. The increase reflects a 23% year-over-year increase in streaming hours on the service.
The Roku Channel is still locked in stiff competition for users with other free streaming providers. Tubi most recently reported having 64 million active monthly users, while Paramount’s free streaming service Pluto TV will issue its quarterly report on Thursday. Amazon’s Freevee does not report subscriber numbers publicly.
The proliferation of FAST channels in the United States is due in part to Roku’s feverish additions in the past few months. Roku has added channels dedicated to music, sports and more since December, helping to raise the number of free streaming channels available in the U.S. to over 1,500.
New selections available on The Roku Channel also include free channels from Warner Bros. Discovery. In early January, WBD struck a deal that sent several channels packed with former HBO Max shows to Roku, including series such as Westworld,” “Raised by Wolves,” “Legendary,” “FBoy Island,” “The Nevers” and more.
More recently, Roku came to an agreement with pocket.watch to provide the service with original kids content. In its short lifespan, pocket.watch has become home to some of the most popular content for Generation Alpha that exists, with its show “Ryan’s World” garnering over a billion views on YouTube. Now, five of its series will air exclusively on the Roku Channel.
The future of streaming increasingly appears ad-supported, so Roku is in a good position to capture viewers in the future. The company now also manufactures its own line of smart TVs, ensuring it has multiple revenue streams to work with heading into 2023 and beyond.
Roku Channel
The Roku Channel is a free live TV streaming service that provides 350+ live linear streaming channels and more than 80,000 free movies and TV shows. The library contains entertainment from several different decades, including some major hits.