Weekly roundup: Roku acquires Frndly TV; watch ‘Adult Best Friends’ and ‘The Four Seasons’ now
Weekly roundup: Roku acquires Frndly TV; watch ‘Adult Best Friends’ and ‘The Four Seasons’ now
Roku, North America’s largest streaming provider, has never previously operated a streaming subscription service.
This week in streaming, a surprise acquisition by Roku shocked the streaming world as North America’s largest streaming provider picked up the small-but-mighty Frndly TV. Find out the details about the deal below. Plus, long-term relationships get put to the test with plenty of lessons and laughs in this week’s streaming recommendations!
This week’s biggest streaming news:
Roku announces acquisition of Frndly TV
Family-friendly streamer Frndly TV is getting adopted into a much bigger home.
On Thursday, Roku shook up the streaming world, announcing it had acquired the skinny-bundle streaming service specializing in entertainment, classic television, educational content, and movies suitable for all ages.
The deal is expected to officially close in the second quarter of the year, pending all customary and regulatory conditions and approvals. Roku will pay $185 million total in cash for the purchase, with $75 million of that deferred for meeting performance goals and milestones over the next two years. Frndly’s team, including management, will also reportedly remain with the streamer following the official takeover.
Roku is the largest streaming provider in North America, reporting it had 90 million households streaming via its platform at the end of the 2024 fourth quarter. But despite the continued success of its free streaming service, the Roku Channel, reporting 35.8 billion streaming hours during its first quarter earnings call on Thursday, the company has never operated a subscription service. (Roku previously made a big acquisition in the streaming world with its purchase of the now-defunct Quibi’s content library in early 2021, but Quibi had announced its shutdown by the time Roku had purchased these assets.) Frndly’s growth, demographics, and price point clearly appealed to Roku, allowing the streaming provider to get into the live streaming subscription business with an established audience that is already on the rise.
While Frndly does not offer any live sports options, cable news channels, or local networks, it carries a curated lineup including Hallmark Channel, Lifetime, GSN, UPtv, and dozens more, plus dozens more free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channels and thousands of hours of on-demand content. Most importantly, the price: Frndly is the cheapest live streaming service with plans capped at $12 per month.
There are no official indications yet of what Roku’s acquisition will mean for Frndly, though we expect any price increase to subscription tiers will be minimal (unless Roku plans to add more channels to Frndly’s offerings).
Catch up on our recent stories related to Roku’s Frndly TV acquisition:
- Roku announces shocking acquisition of Frndly TV
- Roku reports 35.8 billion streaming hours during Q1 2025
- What does an acquisition by Roku mean for Frndly TV?
- Roku tallies 90 million streaming households at start of 2025
Frndly TV
Frndly TV is a budget-friendly live TV streaming service in the United States that focuses on family-friendly and lifestyle programming. Launched in 2019, the service offers a curated lineup of channels that includes Hallmark Channel, UPtv, Lifetime, MeTV, INSP, The Weather Channel, Game Show Network, and dozens more. It’s designed for viewers who want wholesome content without the’ high cost or complexity of larger streaming bundles.
New to streaming: Binge the comedy miniseries ‘The Four Seasons,’ starring Tina Fey, Steve Carell, and more
Few things should get you seated faster than a comedy series created by Tina Fey; add “30 Rock” writer Tracey Wigfield, “Never Have I Ever” creator Lang Fisher, and an all-star ensemble including Steve Carell in the mix, and it’s a marriage for the ages.
The new Netflix comedy miniseries “The Four Seasons” premiered this past Thursday, May 1. An update of the 1981 comedy of the same name directed by and starring Alan Alda, Carol Burnett, Rita Moreno, and more, Fey, Fisher, and Wigfield adapt the cozy classic with a cast worthy of going up against the originals: Fey, Steve Carell, Will Forte, Colman Domingo, Kerri Kenney-Silver, Marco Calvani, and Erika Henningsen.
The series follows six old friends as they get together for a weekend getaway during the spring and find out one of their group’s couples is getting divorced. The split sends a wave through the group, testing their decades-long friendships and complicating their tradition of quarterly weekend getaways. The eight episodes follow the friends over the course of four seasonal vacations as old issues and new tensions surface, and “a love letter to long-haul relationships.”
Watch the trailer for ‘The Four Seasons’:
All eight episodes of “The Four Seasons” are currently available to stream exclusively with a subscription to Netflix, with plans starting at $8 per month.
The Four Seasons
The decades-long friendship between three married couples is tested when one divorces, complicating their tradition of quarterly weekend getaways.
New to streaming: Buddy comedy ‘Adult Best Friends’ premieres
Delaney Buffett and Katie Corwin have been real-life best friends since they were kids, and the ride-or-die duo decided to go straight to the source for their debut comedy.
After having its premiere at the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival, the acclaimed semi-autobiographical “Adult Best Friends” premiered on Max this Friday, May 2, and will have its linear debut on HBO on Saturday, May 3 at 8 p.m. ET.
Directed by Buffett and written by and starring both Buffett and Corwin, the buddy comedy holds up a mirror to long-term friendships when Katie—yes, the characters are named after the real-life creators—tells Delaney she’s getting engaged. Hoping to ease the blow and reconnect ahead of Katie’s Big Day, she plans a nostalgic getaway to their favorite beach town, where they find they’ll need to address some of their codependency first.
The cast also features Zachary Quinto, Cazzie David, Mason Gooding, Casey Wilson, Owen Thiele, Benjamin Norris, and more.
A love letter to friendships and a bittersweet tribute to growing up and older, “Adult Best Friends” is available to stream now with a subscription to Max.
Watch the trailer for ‘Adult Best Friends’ below:
Adult Best Friends
Inseparable since childhood, levelheaded Katie takes her codependent best friend Delaney on a girls’ trip to break the news that she is getting married. Things do not go as planned.