Roku Reports 81.6 Million Households Used Its Platform in Q1 2024; Streaming Hours on Pace to Pass 120 Billion in 2024
Roku also remained the largest TV operating system in the United States.
As the costs of streaming services continue to climb higher and higher, free streaming platforms are routinely showing growth that dwarfs their subscription-based competitors. That continued to be the case on Thursday as Roku released its first quarter 2024 earnings. The leading streaming platform in the United States reported that in the first three quarters of the year, 81.6 million households used Roku to stream video content, and they did so to the tune of 30.8 billion hours of viewing.
Key Details:
- Roku reported adding 1.6 million new households to its platform in Q1 2024.
- With over 30 billion hours streamed, the company is on pace to shatter last year’s record.
- The Roku operating system remains the most used in both the United States and Mexico.
Both of those streaming metrics represented impressive increases for Roku. The 81.6 million streaming households marked a 14% increase over the corresponding quarter last year. At the end of the previous quarter, the streaming company reported having an even 80M households streaming content on its platform. The additional 1.6 million homes do represent slightly slower growth than it has seen over the previous four quarters, but Q1 is routinely the slowest for all entertainment outlets as the winter months bring an end to both the college football and NFL seasons.
While the 81.6 million households total is impressive, the platform’s total hours streamed number might be even more so. Roku reported that its users tallied 30.8 billion hours streamed during the first three months of the year, a 23% increase over Q1 2023. Other than a 2.4B hour increase last fall with the onset of the 2023-24 football season, the additional 1.7 billion hours streamed from Q4 2023 to Q1 2024 is the largest improvement that the company has seen in the past five quarters.
In 2023, Roku celebrated breaking the 100 billion hours streamed mark, so if it can continue improving on this pace, there is a possibility that the platform could crack 100B by the end of the third quarter.
Perhaps most importantly to shareholders, Roku saw its total net revenue climb to $882 million in the first quarter, a 19% year-over-year improvement. The platform’s average revenue per user (ARPU) improved slightly from $39.92 to $40.65. However, year-over-year, ARPU remained flat, down $0.02 since Q1 2023.
Despite its dominance as a streaming platform, Roku also had a solid quarter in terms of hardware sales. Through its own manufactured TVs and devices from other companies that use its operating system, The Roku OS was the No. 1 selling TV OS in both the U.S. and Mexico. The company reports that approximately 40% of all TVs sold in each country during the first three months of the year were operating on the Roku platform.
Roku hopes that its new line of high-end smart TVs will help it reach new consumers and increase its revenue totals. Earlier this month, the company introduced Roku Pro Series TVs that have advanced features, including a function that will adjust your picture settings based on what shows, movies, or events you are watching. These premium TVs come in 55-inch, 65-inch, and 75-inch models.
However, it has not been all good during the early part of 2024 for Roku. First in March, and then in April, the company disclosed that its customers had been the victims of hackers who had stolen personal data in efforts to charge their accounts for streaming products. The first report of the cyber attack came just days after Roku began requiring customers to opt into updated terms of service revolving around litigation in order to be able to use their TVs.
Despite these technical and public relations setbacks, Roku is continuing to improve its offerings to keep consumers engaged with its platform. Yesterday, it was reported that The Roku Channel was in line to land Major League Baseball’s Sunday morning broadcast package, which had aired on Peacock the previous two seasons, but was not picked up in 2024.
Earlier this month, the free streaming channel launched its series adaptation of “The Spiderwick Chronicles,” which broke premiere streaming records, and Roku recently partnered with PBS to introduce a number of classic, retro channels featuring content from “Reading Rainbow,” “Mister Rogers' Neighborhood,” and more.
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.