Roku
Roku Reorg: Charlie Collier Shuffles Media Team
Roku has promoted several executives as Charlie Collier continues to build up the company’s media ambitions. Among the changes, Alison Levin has been promoted to vice president of global media revenue, where she will assume global responsibility for all revenue efforts across the segment. Kristina Shepard has been elevated to vice president of global advertising […]
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Roku Channel Acquires ‘The Spiderwick Chronicles’ After Disney+ Cancellation
Roku has acquired the exclusive, premiere U.S. rights to The Spiderwick Chronicles after Disney+ declined to pick up the completed series. The eight-episode series, based on the best-selling book series by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black, will premiere on the Roku Channel in early 2024. The series is produced by Paramount Television Studios & 20th […]
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Roku to Lay Off 10 Percent of Staff, Take Charge of $55M-$65M for Removing Streaming Content
Roku is laying off another 10 percent of its staff and taking charges for additional restructuring moves, the company unveiled in a regulatory filing Wednesday. It cited a “continuing evaluation of its operations” that led it to determine “to implement additional measures to continue to bring down its year-over-year operating expense growth rate by consolidating […]
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Why Comcast, Roku and Warner Music Exited Earnings Season With Improved Investor Sentiment
Media, entertainment and technology giants have wrapped up the latest quarterly earnings parade, which highlighted advertising challenges and continued cord-cutting. But some companies are exiting earnings season with improved sentiment among investors and Wall Street analysts. “We think the stocks where sentiment improved most this quarter are Comcast, Charter Communications, and Roku,” Wells Fargo analyst […]
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Roku, NBCUniversal Expand FAST Channel Offerings
NBCUniversal and Roku are teaming up to launch several FAST channels devoted to long-running shows in NBCU’s library. Starting Aug. 15, the streaming device maker’s Roku Channel will offer free, ad-supported channels featuring the long-running Angela Lansbury mystery show Murder, She Wrote; the original iteration of sitcom Saved by the Bell; and the 1970s-80s drama […]
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Roku Revenues Rise Despite “Muted” Advertising Environment
Roku reported a strong second quarter, with revenue rising and its net losses improving quarter to quarter, despite what the company calls a “muted” TV advertising market. Roku reported revenue of $847.2 million, including platform revenue (which includes The Roku Channel and advertising) delivering $743.8 million of that revenue haul. The company reported a net […]
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The Barbie Movie Marketing Campaign Will Be Taking Over Roku Too (Exclusive)
Not content to take over the physical world with a Barbie-themed home on AirBnB or pop-up events around the world, the Barbie movie is set to take over one of the entertainment industry’s biggest virtual worlds beginning today: Roku City. In an expansion of its already enormous marketing campaign, Warner Bros.’ Barbie movie will be […]
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The Roku Channel Launches on Google TV
The Roku Channel is now available on Google TV and other Android TV OS devices, the company said Wednesday. Previously, the Roku Channel, the streaming device and platform’s free entertainment channel, had only been available on Roku devices, Fire TV, Samsung TVs, the Roku mobile app and online. This is the latest expansion for the […]
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Mid-Year Hollywood Stocks Review: Spotify Soars, Netflix Gains, Paramount Drops
Top executives at media and entertainment giants will be happy to see the end of the first half of 2023, where stock sell-offs and analyst downgrades were recurrent features of their year to date. In 2022, most Hollywood stocks fell sharply amid pressure by Wall Street on media to push streaming businesses to profitability, increased […]
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Roku Secures First Live Sports Rights, Inks Deal for Formula E Racing Series
Exclusive live sports are coming to Roku, as the streaming platform plants a flag in the ground in the uber-competitive space that has traditionally been dominated by legacy TV networks. Roku and CBS Sports have inked a deal to become the exclusive U.S. media partners for Formula E, the motorsport series featuring electric racing cars. […]
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Longtime Amazon Executive Jeff Blackburn Elected to Roku Board of Directors
Roku has named Jeff Blackburn, the longtime Amazon executive who led the retail giant’s streaming and content business, to its board of directors. Blackburn most recently served as Amazon’s svp for global media and entertainment, where his purview included Prime Video, Amazon Studios, Amazon Music, Audible and Twitch, among other divisions. The executive retired from […]
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Guest Column: As FAST Rises In Streaming, Content Sellers Will Have Better Deal Options
If you blinked your eyes, you might have missed it. Free ad-supported television (FAST) has transformed from an alternative platform enabling cord-cutters to watch linear television to a complementary platform operating alongside traditional TV. For the uninitiated, FAST content is available free of charge to consumers via an ad-supported streaming platform. The advertising is integrated […]
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