Roku unveils its own free, ad-supported movie channel

By Becky Roberts
published

Having just announced plans to raise $100 million from an IPO, Roku's movie-focused (and ingeniously-named) ‘Roku Channel’ will be coming to its streaming platform in the near future...

Thanks to licensing deals with Lionsgate, Sony Pictures Entertainment, MGM and Warner Brothers, the ad-supported channel will offer Roku device owners hundreds of films, such as Ali, The Karate Kid and Legally Blonde. According to Variety, this marks the first time that Roku has licensed movies from Hollywood studios on this scale.

The Roku Channel will also push video content from other US content companies on the platform, such as Popcornflix.

Rob Holmes, vice president of programming at Roku, has said: “With the Roku Channel, we’re responding to consumer demand and helping content publishers deliver content through a new experience that makes finding free entertainment easy for our customers.”

The channel is rolling out “over the coming weeks”, so Roku device owners should soon be able to download it for free, from the platform’s store.

Read more:

Apple TV with 4K and HDR inches closer to confirmation

Roku 4 launches with 4K Ultra HD video

Amazon to add individually priced channels to its Video platform

Disney to rival Netflix and Amazon with own streaming service

Streaming video revenue overtakes DVD sales for the first time

Best video streaming services

Becky Roberts
Becky Roberts

Becky is the managing editor of What Hi-Fi? and, since her recent move to Melbourne, also the editor of Australian Hi-Fi magazine. During her 10 years in the hi-fi industry, she has been fortunate enough to travel the world to report on the biggest and most exciting brands in hi-fi and consumer tech (and has had the jetlag and hangovers to remember them by). In her spare time, Becky can often be found running, watching Liverpool FC and horror movies, and hunting for gluten-free cake.