During their 2Q 2021 Earnings Call, Roku company officials said they were very pleased with the performance of The Roku Channel.
“That’s obviously a very successful product for us that’s doing extremely well,” company officials said during the call. “It’s an owned and operated streaming service that’s primarily ad-supported. It’s definitely benefiting from, you know, this virtuous cycle of viewers seeking out free content; Advertisers following viewers, and us reinvesting the revenue back into better and better content.”
Last year, after Quibi went down after its short eight-month run. In January, Roku decided to take a chance on Quibi's failure and gave 75 titles a new home as originals on The Roku Channel.
In May, the newly rebranded Roku Originals hit the platform and proved to be a huge success.
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.
During the first two weeks that the former Quibi content was available on The Roku Channel, more than one in three users streamed an original series. On average, the viewers watched more than nine episodes. These impressive numbers also led to Roku bringing Die Hart, which features Kevin Hart, back for a second season.
MoffettNathanson senior analyst Michael Nathanson offers additional insight into The Roku Channel’s success. Streaming is a highly competitive market, and companies are finding ways to keep consumers coming back for more. Nathanson thinks that The Roku Channel’s original content encourages viewers to keep watching.
“That’s their future monetization growth,” Nathanson said. “As more media companies take back their own content—you’ve seen WarnerMedia now [merging] with Discovery; you’ve seen Amazon buy MGM—Roku needs more original content in order to stand out and to monetize and to build impressions.”