Tag: Roku

Roku Posts $80.5 Million Quarterly Profit Turnaround, Ups Platform Streaming Hours to 145.6 Billion

Roku Feb. 12 reported net income of $80.5 million on revenue of $1.22 billion in the fourth quarter (ended Dec. 31, 2025). That compared with a net loss of $35.5 million on revenue of $1 billion in the prior-year period.

Streaming hours in 2025 on the Roku platform across myriad streaming sites increased 15% to 145.6 billion hours, from 126.6 billion hours in 2024.

Roku’s platform segment, which includes access to third-party streaming services such as Netflix, grew quarterly revenue 18% to $1.22 billion, from $1.03 billion in the previous-year period. For the full year, platform revenue also rose 18% to $4.15 billion, from $3.5 billion a year before, driven by continued strength in video advertising and streaming services distribution activities.

Roku said platform traffic increased in part due to the launch of “The Roku Experience,” which encompasses the full suite of features designed to engage TV viewers and simplify content discovery through the power of AI and its first-party data.

“This year, we will launch ‘Home Screen’ enhancements to further elevate the streaming experience, driving both deeper engagement and
increased platform monetization,” CEO Anthony Wood and CFO/COO Dan Jedda wrote in the shareholder letter.

According to Nielsen, The Roku Channel was the No. 2 free, ad-supported streaming app (second to YouTube) and the No. 5 streaming app overall
in the United States in December. The Roku Channel hit an all-time high, representing 6.3% of all TV streaming, up from 4.6% a year ago, according to Nielsen.

Devices revenue, which includes streaming sticks and Roku TVs, increased 3% to $171 million in Q4, from $166 million in the previous-year period, and $592 million for the full fiscal year, flat from 2024.

“Driven by our brand and strategic partnerships with OEMs and retail distributors, we expect to continue growing streaming households in all our locations,” Wood and Jedda wrote. “We remain on track to achieve a significant milestone of 100 million streaming households globally in 2026.”

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Roku, iSpot Bringing Outcome-Based Optimization to Ad-Supported Streaming

Roku Jan. 6 announced an expanded pact with iSpot technology to help third-party advertising brands achieve more-accountable, performance-focused campaign results on the Roku platform.

Roku advertisers can now use iSpot-attributed outcomes to track return-on-investment, adjust creative strategies, and help drive business results, such as Web conversions. Early testing showed strong results, including a 23% increase in ad leads and a 31% increase in website visits, according to Roku.

“Our expanded partnership represents an important step in our mission to give advertisers the most effective and measurable streaming advertising solutions,” Miles Fisher, senior director of strategic advertising partnerships at Roku, said in a statement.

The optimization features build on the data and measurement partnership first announced in 2024.

“This deeper integration with Roku marks a key moment for outcome-based streaming,” Stuart Schwartzapfel, EVP of media partnerships at iSpot, said in a statement. “We’re not just measuring performance; we’re helping drive it, ensuring advertisers gain new levels of efficiency and ROI directly on the Roku platform.”

Roku, which helped launch the SVOD market in the United States with Netflix, reports that more than 80 million U.S. households owned a Roku device through Sept. 30. The platform topped 90 million streaming households in January 2025.

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Roku Touts ‘Wicked: For Good’ Digital Access With Exclusive Musical Dance Performance

Roku and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment Jan. 1 announced the launch of “Live From Roku City Celebrates Wicked: For Good,” an exclusive all-new musical dance performance of the movie’s “Wonderful,” choreographed by Christopher Scott, and a rendition of “For Good” performed by the MUSCYA kids choir.

The project is overseen by Brian Tannenbaum, head of originals at Roku, and Lucas Sopko, global sales lead at Roku.

During and after the performances, Roku users can purchase or rent Wicked: For Good directly through the Roku City TV screensaver.

The sequel to 2024’s Wicked, which again stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, among others, and generated $507.3 million at the global box office, adapts the second half of the 2003 Broadway musical of the same name, which itself is based on a 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire that explores the backstories of the witches featured in The Wizard of Oz.

The Roku home screen reaches more than 125 million people across the U.S. daily.

“We’re thrilled to partner with Universal Pictures Home Entertainment to give viewers a little bit of magic with a single click,” Lisa Holme, head of content at Roku Media, said in a statement.

“Live From Roku City” aims to transform Roku’s animated cityscape into a stage for music, original storytelling, and interactive programming for marketers such as UPHE.

“Through this partnership with Roku City, we’re giving fans a front-row seat at home to a truly magical experience — bringing the spirit of Oz home and making this New Year celebration unforgettable,” added Hilary Hoffman, EVP of global marketing at UPHE.

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Nielsen, Roku Expand Strategic Partnership

Analytics firm Nielsen and streaming device pioneer Roku have expanded their long-term strategic partnership to incorporate Roku data into Nielsen’s advanced campaign measurement and outcome solutions, the companies announced.

With streaming on Roku devices alone making up more than 21% of all TV viewing, advertisers can get a more accurate view of what audiences watch across services through measurement powered by Roku’s data, according to Nielsen. As part of this expanded multiyear strategic partnership, Nielsen will continue using Roku’s large-scale TV data as input to its Big Data + Panel measurement for both linear and streaming ratings.

Roku will also gain access to Nielsen’s Streaming Platform Ratings, which provide a view of how audiences engage with both subscription and ad-supported services. According to Nielsen, about seven in 10 TV streaming hours are now ad-supported, and The Roku Channel, Roku’s free ad-supported streaming app, is now the second-largest streaming app based on share of ad-supported TV time.

“With our leadership in streaming measurement and this data from Roku, we are providing the most accurate view of what audiences are watching across all of TV,” Ameneh Atai, GM of audience measurement at Nielsen, said in a statement. “And at Nielsen, we continue to see a move toward ad-supported streaming services, with The Roku Channel a leader in the category. This strategic partnership brings together Nielsen’s strength and expertise in streaming measurement with Roku’s category leadership positioning to provide a solution that addresses a timely industry need: granular insights and analytics that marketers need to grow their brand as well as drive results.”

“Our extended strategic partnership with Nielsen will help further our goal of a better TV advertising system, focused on interoperability and driving performance. Together, Roku and Nielsen will take streaming measurement to a new level, ensuring that advertisers and publishers have access to best-in-class measurement and insights,” Sarah Harms, VP of marketing and measurement at Roku, said in a statement.

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Season 12 of Formula E Racing Streaming Free on Roku Channel

Season 12 of Formula E racing will be streaming free on The Roku Channel (and TheRokuChannel.com).

The 2025-2026 season on The Roku Channel kicks off Dec. 6 in São Paulo, Brazil and wraps up in London.

Formula E races will be prominently featured across Roku devices and The Roku Channel.

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Holiday Romance ‘Jingle Bell Wedding’ to Debut Dec. 5 on Roku Channel

The Roku Original movie Jingle Bell Wedding will debut Dec. 5 on the Roku Channel.

In this sequel to Jingle Bell Love, Jack, his daughter Grace, and fiancée Jessica are planning a special holiday in Lakeside that will include their New Year’s Eve wedding. But a once-in-a lifetime career opportunity pops up and threatens to scuttle their holiday plans.

Directed by Ann De Lean (Jingle Bell Love, The Christmas Checklist), Jingle Bell Wedding stars Joey McIntyre (New Kids on the Block) as Jack and Michelle Morgan (“Heartland”) as Jessica. 

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Roku Greenlights Eva Longoria’s ‘NFL Hometown Eats’ Food/Fandom Series Debuting in 2026

Roku is partnering with Eva Longoria and NFL Films for a new original unscripted series, “NFL Hometown Eats,” launching in 2026.

The show will follow a die-hard celebrity fan and an NFL star as they take to the streets of their team’s city, reliving game-day glory, diving into local traditions, and devouring its favorite eats.

The three-part series will kick off with executive producer Longoria alongside an NFL player from her favorite football team, the Dallas Cowboys.

“Food and football are two of America’s greatest unifiers. With [this show] we’re shining a spotlight on the people and places that fuel the spirit of the game — from the local spots to the hometown people behind the grill,” Brian Tannenbaum, head of originals for Roku Media, said in a statement.

Co-producers include Longoria’s Hyphenate Media Group, Skydance Sports, and Alfred Street Industries.

“This series is a celebration of the people and places that give football its soul,” added Longoria.

The show is overseen by Olivia LaRoche and Randall Bobbitt on behalf of Roku Originals. The series is executive produced by Longoria, Cris Abrego, Rachelle Mendez, and Ian Samplin for Hyphenate Media Group; Jane Lipsitz, Dan Cutforth, Dan Volpe, and Nan Strait for Alfred Street Industries; and Jesse Sisgold, Jason T. Reed, Jon Weinbach, and Lauren Gaffney for Skydance Sports.

Roku, NFL Films, and Skydance Sports first collaborated on the behind-the-scenes documentary NFL Draft: The Pick Is In, for which Roku earned its first-ever Sports Emmy.

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Haystack News Streaming Service Gets Roku Remote Button

Ad-supported streaming service Haystack News, with more than 40 million registered users, Nov. 6 announced it is extending its presence on Roku with the addition of a dedicated Haystack News button on Roku remote controls, including the Roku Voice Remote Pro.

The Haystack News button gives Roku customers one-click access to the platform, which provides viewers access to more than 400 local, national and global news sources for live and on-demand viewing.

“This partnership represents yet another exciting milestone for Haystack and furthers our mission to give consumers unparalleled access to trusted, diverse news sources,” Daniel Barreto, CEO of Haystack News, said in a statement.

“Dedicated buttons on our Roku remote controls are one of many ways Roku can help streaming services reach and engage new viewers,” added Mike Gamboa, senior director of commercial partnerships at Roku.

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Roku Ups Partnership With Double Verify to Combat False CTV Ad Data

Roku Nov. 5 announced a new deal with Double Verify to verify media quality, optimize ad performance, and prove campaign outcomes on connected-TV (CTV) advertising.

According to DV’s recently released report, “Global Insights: Trends in the Modern Streaming Landscape,” the online ad industry continues to grapple with fraudsters targeting streaming environments that lack strong security measures.

The scale of this problem is staggering, with 4 million infected CTV bot devices generating extreme volumes of invalid traffic daily, according to the report. This wave of bot activity can lead to wasted budgets, with losses exceeding $7.5 million monthly from just one bot variant, based on industry CPM estimations. This rise of falsification schemes underscores the need for enhanced protection measures across the CTV advertising ecosystem.

“CTV remains one of the fastest-growing channels in digital advertising and, unfortunately, one of the most targeted by fraudsters due to high CPMs and the relative newness of the ecosystem,” Mark Zagorski, CEO of Double Verify, said in a statement.

One of the more effective ways to block fake CTV ad impressions that falsely claim to be generated by Roku devices has been Roku’s Advertising Watermark. Roku’s Advertising Watermark is designed to ensure that only genuine Roku devices can display authenticated ads, providing an additional layer of protection against device spoofing and other falsification schemes.

“Our partnership with DV enhances our collective capabilities to secure the TV streaming advertising ecosystem,” added James Kelm, VP of product, advertising and media at Roku.

Starting in 2022, Roku and DV collaborated to shut down SmokeScreen, a CTV ad fraud operation that used screensaver apps to generate fake ad impressions in the background. For a year, DV and Roku investigated the group of apps involved and used signals from Roku’s Advertising Watermark to reveal key technical details about how the scheme operated.

From 2023 to 2024, DV also uncovered and mitigated CycloneBot, one of the largest CTV ad fraud schemes ever detected, according to the company, which generated up to 250 million fake ad requests daily and employed advanced evasion techniques. DV’s early collaboration with Roku and its Fraud Lab played a critical role in dismantling CycloneBot, leveraging insights and signals from Roku’s Advertising Watermark.

DV and Roku’s partnership also extends beyond fraud protection, with measurement capabilities on Roku’s home screen and native formats — allowing an effective way for advertisers to reach their audience on the largest screen within the household.

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Roku Launches Self-Serve API Suite for Connected TV

Roku Nov. 4 announced the launch of the Roku Ads API, a self-serve developer platform for connected-TV (CTV) advertising.

The platform aims to give marketers and developers direct access to Roku’s first-party ad capabilities, enabling them to build new and more integrated performance technology that help advertisers optimize and measure campaigns across ad-supported streaming platforms.

Unlike closed or permission-gated CTV platforms, the Roku Ads API allows developers to register applications, obtain credentials, and build integrations without manual approvals. At launch, available endpoints include reporting, audiences and conversions, with campaign management and creative APIs coming soon.

Each endpoint will enable partners and their advertisers to drive the most performant CTV ad campaigns, according to the company. Roku Ads API enables partners to pull reporting into their preferred business intelligence tools. Partners are able to push custom audiences to Roku for targeting use cases, unlock in-platform attribution, audience creation, and real-time optimization.

“Advertisers increasingly expect CTV to integrate seamlessly with the tools they already use,” Peter Hamilton, head of ad innovation at Roku, said in a statement. “The Roku Ads API makes that possible by giving developers an open platform to build new functionality and deeper integrations across the ecosystem.”

“Tealium enables advertisers to maximize Roku’s API-driven CTV capabilities by securely unifying and activating high-quality proprietary data in real time, ultimately fueling better targeting, measurement, and business outcomes,” Matthew Gray, SVP of global partnerships at Tealium, said in a statement. “With direct API access to Roku’s powerful first-party ad capabilities, advertisers can now extend the partners they already rely on for social into CTV, with a sharp focus on driving better business outcomes. We’re proud to partner with Roku in charting new territory — bringing the API-driven ease and scale that advertisers and partners expect from social platforms into the world of CTV.”

“Measuring the true impact of CTV has historically been tough. Roku’s Ads API lets measurement partners sync aggregate platform delivery data in real time and power advanced measurement — enabling advertisers to understand what’s working, optimize with confidence, and tie budgets to business outcomes,” Olivia Kory, chief strategy officer at Haus, said in a statement.

Developers can obtain credentials through Roku Ads Manager, allowing for secure access to the Roku Ads API suite. These tools allow them to retrieve campaign performance data, build custom audiences, and plug into internal systems or third-party platforms. Additional endpoints for campaign and creative management will launch later this year, completing the Roku API suite.

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