Roku streaming hours jump in Q1; more streaming partnerships coming
Roku streaming hours jump in Q1; more streaming partnerships coming
Roku’s first-quarter earnings featured strong numbers, and the company could be adding new streaming partnerships soon.
Roku’s turn to report its earnings results for the first quarter of 2026 has come! The company already let slip one of its most encouraging figures from the quarter; in April, Roku revealed that it had surpassed 100 million global streaming households. But there was plenty more good news included in Roku’s latest earnings report, and the platform figures to add even more premium streaming subscriptions in the months to come.
Key Details:
- More watching: Roku’s streaming hours rose to 38.7 billion in the first quarter.
- Flipping the coin: Roku showed a net income of $85.7 million during the quarter, after a loss in Q1 2025.
- Who’s next?: Executives at Roku credited new partnerships with Apple TV and Peacock for a portion of the quarter’s success.
Roku’s first-quarter earnings results showed that the platform grew to 38.7 billion streaming hours during the quarter, an increase of 8% year-over-year. The Roku Channel was the No. 2 app on the Roku platform by engagement in the United States during the quarter, as well.
Total net revenue for Roku hit $1.25 billion in Q1, a 22% increase YoY. Net income grew to $85.7 million, a big gain over the course of the year; in Q1 2025, Roku posted a net loss of $27.4 million. The company also hit an all-time high in free cash flow and is on track to achieve $1 billion in free cash flow by 2028.
So, how did Roku achieve such encouraging numbers in its first quarter of the year? In its report, the company had praise for both Apple TV and Peacock, which joined its Premium Subscriptions platform in Q1. Apple TV was added in March, and Peacock joined at the end of April.
Roku also said in its report that it had an eye open for opportunities to continue adding additional services to Premium Subscriptions in the future. So, which streaming services might be next on the list for Roku to add to the Premium Subscriptions platform?
There are plenty of options available, including some of the top streamers on the market in the United States. While Roku distributes top streaming services Disney+, Hulu, and Netflix through its Roku Channel store, it does not allow viewers to buy them through the Premium Channels platform. The most important difference to remember between the two purchase methods is that viewers who sign up for an additional subscription through Roku Premium Channels get to watch the content from that streamer directly through the Roku app.
I’m not convinced that any of those three services would be eager to join Roku’s Premium Channel store; Disney+, Hulu, and Netflix would much rather compel viewers to watch on their own respective apps. All three streamers have thus far refused to join Prime Video, which also lets customers watch content from added subscriptions on its native app, instead of forcing them to download different apps for their new services.
Although it would take quite a bit of work from all parties involved, I think live TV services such as DIRECTV and Sling TV would make fantastic fits for the Roku Premium Channels platform. Integrating these services would allow customers to watch their favorite cable channels on the same app as their on-demand subscriptions, a level of aggregation that customers have been crying out for for years.
Roku already has an electronic programming guide that allows viewers to browse through free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channels that can be streamed on The Roku Channel. Integrating other live channels into this guide would be a natural evolution of the feature.
Roku’s Premium Channels already offer a selection of top on-demand services, including Apple TV, HBO Max, Paramount+, and Peacock. While subscription services like Disney+ and Netflix may continue in their reluctance to join the platform, there are opportunities for it to add content from live TV services, in our view.
Roku Channel
The Roku Channel is a free, ad-supported streaming service that offers a broad mix of movies, TV shows, live linear channels, and original programming. Available to all viewers — not just Roku device owners — the service features licensed content from major studios alongside Roku Originals, which include exclusive series, movies, and specials previously produced for Quibi, as well as new original projects developed specifically for the platform.