TORONTO – When asked about new competition in the streaming market from heavyweights like Disney and Apple, Mike Duin, Roku Europe’s director of communications is all smiles. “Launches, for example, of Disney Plus and Apple TV Plus, only drive new demand for streaming services and streaming platforms like ours. So, bring it on,” he replies.
“We now have 30.5 million active accounts, globally. Together they streamed in the second quarter of this year 9.4 billion hours of content.”
Duin was in Toronto Thursday to announce Roku’s 2019 streaming player lineup for Canada, consisting of three models ranging in price from $39.99 to $89.99. The line-up includes: a redesigned and sleeker Roku Express for HD streaming; the new Roku Premiere which delivers 4K streaming with HDR; and existing Roku Streaming Stick+ which boasts 4K HDR picture quality and is the most portable player. The new streaming players will be available in Canada beginning in early October.
Roku also announced that it is adding 14 free live linear channels to The Roku Channel in Canada, with the first linear channels expected to arrive before the end of the month.
“We added the Global TV channel to our platform earlier this year [the first Canadian broadcaster to join the platform]. We want to add more services like this that people might have watched on a different device in the past and bring them over to our platform. Our goal is to power every TV in the world,” Duin (pictured) told Cartt.ca. He noted that he has been beta testing the new Disney+ service in the Netherlands and says it’s “incredible” and that the service will be available on the Roku platform when it launches in Canada on November 12.
When Roku introduced its first streaming device, the Roku Box, in May 2008, (2012 in Canada) it was far from certain that it would ever be able to compete against the pay-TV packages offered by cable, satellite, and IPTV vendors. In addition to the Roku Box’s attractive price of $99 at the time, the timing was also on their side as Netflix and Hulu were beginning to explode
in popularity.
“Now what’s interesting to see is that our streaming hours continue to grow faster than our account numbers (40% to 50% year on year). But even more impressive is that the streaming hours grew 72% in our second quarter.”
Duin also noted a U.K. study that concluded the majority of non-broadcast viewing is now actually on the TV. “TV delivers a much better experience because you have a better bigger screen and better audio. So, it's the preferred method in the end of the day. If you look at the U.S., in the first half of this year, one in three smart TVs sold had the Roku OS built into it.”
All Roku streaming devices in Canada provide access to thousands of free and paid streaming services, including: Netflix, Prime Video, The Roku Channel, DAZN, Global TV, CBS All Access, Acorn TV, hayu, Britbox, VMedia and many more. Additionally, Roku players and Roku TVs can be used with the free Roku mobile app for iOS and Android, to enjoy private listening, voice search and more.
The ad-supported Roku Channel launched in Canada in 2018 and has quickly gained popularity. No subscriptions, fees or logins are required to access hundreds of free movies, TV shows and documentaries, with a selection of box office hits and TV shows featured every month.
Roku users will be able to view the following 14 live linear channels from various publishers later this month:
Law & Crime ‒ Watch the courtroom drama unfold live and get in-depth legal analysis on the day’s biggest crime and legal stories.
Now This ‒ Now This is the most watched mobile news brand in the world, providing the latest in video news, investigative reports, interviews and original series.
AllTime ‒ AllTime aims to bring you the most informative, fascinating and engaging top 10 videos.
TMZ ‒ Get your daily dose of pop culture from the TMZ channel featuring programs such as TMZ Sports, The Hollywood Beatdown, TMZ TV, TMZ Chatter and more.
AFV ‒ America’s Funniest Home Videos (AFV) shines the spotlight on hilarious videos to bring you America’s ‘real-life’ funny moments captured on video.
Fail Army ‒ FailArmy is the world’s number one source for epic fail videos and hilarious compilations.
Pet Collective ‒ The Pet Collective is home to the top trending clips, most entertaining memes, and funniest animal videos.
People Are Awesome ‒ People Are Awesome is the number one destination for amazing, original videos and compilations of ordinary people doing extraordinary things.
Adventure Sports Network ‒ Adventure Sports Network (ASN) is the worldwide leader in adventure sports, outdoor, lifestyle and travel.
Food52 ‒ Come on by the Food52 test kitchen. Our award-winning editors and kitchen experts ‒ like Genius Recipes‘s Kristen Miglore and Dear Test Kitchen‘s Josh Cohen ‒ are here to help with dinner tonight, weekend meal prep, cookie emergencies, you name it.
Tastemade ‒ Planning your next adventure abroad or at home? Tastemade shows you how it’s done. Whether expanding your palate or your itinerary, Tastemade presents even more of the things you love. Hundreds of hours of original shows, streaming straight to you.
FilmRise Free Movies ‒ Catch film stars like Owen Wilson, Emma Stone, Morgan Freeman and more in our massive selection of free blockbusters.
FilmRise Crime ‒ The best Crime TV to satisfy the sleuths among us.
FilmRise Classic TV ‒ Catch prime time smash hits like 21 Jump Street and Hunter all day long.
