“After releasing its big feature film, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story in 2022, Roku has been shifting strategies on its original programming to focus less on features and more on creating content around big events. “I think a lot of what you’ll see us doing is picking those moments where there’s tremendous energy to be”, — write: www.hollywoodreporter.com
“I think a lot of what you’ll see us doing is picking those moments where there’s tremendous energy to be watching something on TV, and we can make it bigger by supplementing with our own original programming,” said Lisa Holme, who was hired as head of content at Roku in September.
That entails programming such as documentaries around sports events, a Valentine’s Day romantic comedy, Chef’s Kiss, NFL Hometown Eats with Eva Longoria, which will follow a fan and an NFL star going through the favorite food spots in the team’s city, as well as a Laguna Beach reunion, tied to the anniversary of the launch of the show, which also has bespoke integrations and ad sponsorships. The unscripted show Solo Traveling with Tracee Ellis Rosswhich was renewed for a second season, may be one exception, but also includes product placement for her hair care company Pattern.
Still, the majority of the content on the Roku Channel remains licensed content, a cheaper value proposition than originals, and one that’s intended to keep growing the audience and increase their engagement for the ad-supported service, which has seen major growth over the past year.
The Roku Channel has been leading the Nielsen Gauge for TV viewing among FAST services, and reported hitting 3 percent of all TV viewing in the US in December, a 45 percent year‑over‑year increase in US TV time year over year and up 190 percent from two years ago. This puts it below Prime Video (at 4.3 percent).
Overall, Holme said Roku views the channel as “brand loyalty” play, as the more engaged Roku Channel viewers are more likely to buy a premium subscription product, whether that’s Roku’s own or another company’s.
“The bread and butter of all of these services is licensed content, and then we kind of supplement selectively with original content to help build the brand, the fandom and audience,” Holme said.
The increased viewership is in part due to increased programming, with “double-digit percentage” growth in the number of FAST channels, now up to more than 500, and growth in on-demand programming which is meant to reach broadly across the 125 million people Roku says interacts with their homescreen daily. “The audience is everyone,” Holme said.
Particular emphasis has been placed on live news, crime, Spanish-language channels and sports, which includes some live programming, such as Formula E and the X Games, as well as other non-live sports programming such as replayed games and documentaries. The company has also created “sports zones” around the NFL, NBA and more that include live sports streaming on other subscription apps (where Roku often handles billings for subscriptions or monetize ad inventory), as well as Roku Channel offerings. In general, Roku has also been promoting the Roku channel more throughout its interface.
But Holme says part of the increased interest may also come as consumers face subscription fatigue from rising subscription prices. In light of that, Roku launched a $2.99 Howdy subscription in August which features a lot of the same content from the Roku Channel, but ad free, as well as plans to have more recent movies appear there.
“The vast majority of Howdy subscribers are Roku channel viewers who are now just adding Howdy on top as another part of the ecosystem,” Holme said. Roku has not released exact numbers on Howdy subscribers, but Holme said it’s growing “really well.”
At the moment, Holme said Roku is not planning to make originals specific to Howdy, but will stream Roku Originals there.
She notes that more low-priced services like Howdy may pop up, given the market opening. She also sees continued growth in the FAST ecosystem, albeit likely not at the same growth rate seen over the past two years. As viewers continue to shift from cable to streaming, she believes they still want to be able to just turn on the TV and have something playing rather than having to seek out a show on a streaming platform.
“I think FAST is really scratching that itch for the consumer in a way that that need isn’t going to go away. So I think there’s still plenty of growth to be had,” Holme said.