Dongle icon Roku unveils its own TVs as streamers vie to make television streaming-first
The dongle has company… Ding-dong: it’s a TV. Streaming staple Roku is launching its own line of television sets. Refresher: Roku’s software-connected dongles are a cheaper alternative to Apple TV’s sleek black controllers. A third of America’s televisions run Roku software. But now it’s doubling down with its own small-screen hardware.
- Flat stream: Roku aims to launch its TV lineup this spring, and it’s not skimping on options. Think: 11 models ranging from 24 to 75 inches, with prices starting at $119 all the way up to $999.
- Fire competition: Fire Stick rival Amazon began selling its Fire-branded 4K TVs in 2021 to Amazon-ify your streaming experience. Picture: telling Alexa to stream Amazon Prime on a Fire TV.
- Roku stock jumped 4% yesterday but is down 81% over the past year. It has struggled with an ad downturn and shrinking profit margins. FYI: Roku makes most of its $$ from ads on The Roku Channel and other channels.
Laptop < flat screen… Streaming accounted for only a fourth of America’s TV viewing time in mid-’21. Read: most Americans were streaming from their laptops or phones, not TV sets. Things have changed: in July streamers got more TV view time than cable networks for the first time. As cord-cutting continues, 87% of US households had a streaming sub last year.
Streamers could replace channels… Companies like Roku and Apple are trying to make TV a streaming-first experience vs. a cable-first experience. Roku’s CEO said that its new TVs “are designed to be streaming first.” Instead of surfing channels, the goal is to have users toggling between streamers on Roku’s interface. TVs aren’t likely to go the way of cable; instead, they could play a key role in a future where consumers switch between Netflix, Disney+, Apple TV+, and other services — changing streamers instead of channels.