Roku welcomed its latest streaming platform Howdy on Tuesday — and it’s just $2.99 per month. The ad-free, video-on-demand service will house thousands of titles with partners Lionsgate, Warner Bros. Discovery and FilmRise.
“Priced at less than a cup of coffee, Howdy is ad-free and designed to complement, not compete with, premium services,” Roku founder and CEO Anthony Wood said. “We’re meeting a real need for consumers who want to unwind with their favorite movies and shows uninterrupted and on their terms.”
Subscribers will have access to nearly 10,000 hours of content, including “Mad Max: Fury Road,” “The Blind Side,” “Weeds” and “Kids in the Hall,” as well as iconic rom-coms, medical dramas, ‘90s comedies, feel-good classics and more.
“Howdy is a natural step for us at Roku, extending our mission to make better TV for everyone, by making it affordable, accessible and built for how people watch today,” Wood added.
The launch of Howdy marks a continuation of Roku’s strategy to grow platform monetization and expand subscriptions using the power of its platform, which reaches more than 125 million people each day. Roku’s FAST service is the most-watched free ad-supported television channel in the United States.
This reach encouraged studios like Lionsgate to partner with the streamer.
“With engagement of over 125 million people a day, Roku is the perfect partner to launch a more accessible complement to the higher-priced SVODs,” president of Worldwide Television Distribution at Lionsgate Jim Packer said. “This service has the ability to scale quickly while providing us with a new way to monetize our content, and we’re proud to be part of this new streaming experience.”
Howdy will be available initially on the Roku platform, but will roll out on mobile and additional platforms in the near future.
Roku bought Frndly TV for $185 million in May. The Denver-based streaming service offers subscribers access to more than 50 live TV channels, including A&E, Hallmark Channel, The History Channel, Lifetime and more, as well as thousands of hours of on-demand content, for $6.99 per month. Howdy will add yet another entertainment subscription service to its slate.
The company also reported strong second quarter earnings last week, which saw the company turn a quarterly profit of $10.5 million as revenue rose 15% to $1.1 billion.
