The best free content on Roku devices will soon be available in one place.
The Roku Channel is a new, free channel that will aggregate existing and new no-cost content in a single app. The eponymous channel will offer movies from new Roku partners including MGM, Sony, Warner and Lionsgate, intermixing them with free content from existing Roku channels such as FilmRise, OVGuide, Popcornflix, YuYu and Vidmark, among others.
“We’re at our best when helping a family’s entertainment dollar go just a bit further,” Matthew Anderson, Roku’s Chief Marketing Officer, told CNET. “There are no subscriptions, logins or fees, and everything is in one place.”
The channel will focus on movies, with such titles as “Legally Blonde,” “Up in the Air,” “The Karate Kid,” “Monster” and “Ali.” Titles will rotate in and out of the channel, and will be ad-supported, but Anderson insists that it will be a better experience than standard TV. Commercials will be limited to “half as much as linear TV,” he says, and ads will be “relevant and non-repetitive.” All content will be licensed, however: Roku has no intention to embark on original content at this time.
The channel will begin to become available to owners of Roku streaming devices in the US starting today, and roll out to customers over the next several weeks.
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Separately, Roku announced plans for a $100 million initial public offering last week.
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