Roku CEO: Live TV Streaming Services 'Seals The Deal' For Moving Their Viewership to Roku

During yesterday’s Q1 2019 Earnings Call, Roku CEO Anthony Wood reiterated how important Live TV Streaming Services like Sling TV, PlayStation Vue, Hulu Live TV, Fubo and YouTube TV are to the Roku platform. “It’s a great category for us. It continues to grow healthily as consumers cut the cord for other options, other bundles in OTT.”

Given the competition between vMVPDs, they’ve contributed to the growing revenue of Roku’s ad platform. “Those are great relationships for us because all of those parties, all the virtual MVPDs are very much in user acquisition mode. And so they work very closely with us to drive consumption of their platform.”

In general, Roku finds that Live TV Streaming Services are “additive on top of whatever the consumer was doing on their Roku device before they subscribe to a vMVPD service.” In fact, Roku CFO Steve Louden says, “vMVPD users also watch a lot of other streaming services as well.”

Ultimately, these services have been a boon for Roku. “It really does fill out the dial to what consumer are looking to watch on TV,” says Wood. “It services that appetite for live TV and viewing for sports and it sort of seals the deal for the consumer cutting the cord and moving all their viewership to Roku.”

And the relationship seems to be paying off for Roku. As part of their Q1 2019 financial results, Roku announced that they now have 29.1 million active accounts, after adding 2 million in the quarter. With more users, and with them streaming even more, streaming hours increased from 5.1 billion to 8.9 billion (+74%) over the last year.

Offer Terms

Only valid for new DIRECTV STREAM subscribers.
Only valid once per household.
You must pay and maintain service for at least one month to be eligible.
Purchase must be completed on the DIRECTV STREAM website.
You’ll receive gift card 4-6 weeks after purchase (~2 weeks after your first month).
Cannot be combined with any other promotion and won’t be eligible if you try to use a coupon code or cash back from another site.

Offer Terms

Only valid for new Sling TV subscribers to Sling Orange, Blue, or Sling Orange + Blue.
Only valid once per household.
You must pay and maintain service for at least one month to be eligible.
You must click from The Streamable and complete your purchase on the Sling TV website.
You’ll receive gift card 4-6 weeks after purchase (~2 weeks after your first month).
Cannot be combined with any other promotion and won’t be eligible if you try to use a coupon code or cash back from another site.

Offer Terms

Only valid for new Hulu Live TV subscribers.
Only valid once per household.
You must pay and maintain service for at least one month to be eligible.
You must click from The Streamable and complete your purchase on the Hulu Live TV website.
You’ll receive gift card 4-6 weeks after purchase (~2 weeks after your first month).
Cannot be combined with any other promotion and won’t be eligible if you try to use a coupon code or cash back from another site.

Roku CEO: Live TV Streaming Services ‘Seals The Deal’ For Moving Their Viewership to Roku

DIRECTV STREAM Cash Back

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Sling TV Cash Back

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Hulu Live TV Cash Back

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