With over 700 content partners in its channel store, Roku has built out the most extensive set of content choices of any of the over-the-top devices.
And in a recent interview at NATPE, Scott Rosenberg, Roku's VP, Business Development, Content and Services, explains that's because the company has "very deliberately operated with a pro-content provider strategy" and prides itself on being easy to work with, allowing content providers to use the same standard technologies they use on the web and offering favorable economics. Scott contrasts this with the approach other OTT devices have taken.
Scott makes a number of other interesting points, including:
- The vast majority of Roku households still have a pay-TV subscription, but they are using their Roku more than ever, watching 12 hours/week of OTT content (20-25% of their total TV viewing).
- Pay-TV operators increasingly see Roku not as competitive, but rather as supporting their goals of driving loyalty and reducing churn. This is why more authenticated programming, beyond HBO GO, is coming to Roku soon.
- Many content providers are max'd out on the number of smart TV platforms they'll support, so smaller TV manufacturers are turning to Roku as an aggregator of OTT content which they can use to support their smart TV content strategies. One other side note on this is that last week I was chatting with Roku's CEO Anthony Wood at the NCTC Winter Conference and he said he also sees Roku as potentially becoming an operating system for smaller TV manufacturers' smart TVs. With 50% of the U.S. market consisting of these brands, this offers Roku a very big opportunity.
And more.
Categories: Devices
Topics: Roku