Roku adds premium subscriptions to The Roku Channel in addition to the free ad-supported movies

Roku yesterday announced it is expanding The Roku Channel to include “Premium Subscriptions.” Users will be able to watch both free ad-supported and paid premium entertainment in one interface, with personalized recommendations, where they can browse, trial and subscribe to popular services.

According to Roku, The Roku Channel will begin rolling out to select Roku devices in late January, with a phased rollout planned for early 2019.

Premium Subscription partners at launch include SHOWTIME, Starz, EPIX, Baeble Music, CollegeHumor’s DROPOUT, CuriosityStream, FitFusion, The Great Courses Signature Collection, Hopster, Magnolia Selects presented by Magnolia Pictures, MHz Choice, NOGGIN, Smithsonian Channel Plus, Tastemade, and Viewster Anime.

Users will be able to discover new services from Premium Subscriptions Roku partners, browse their entire catalogs and then sign-up for at least a seven-day free trial using their existing Roku® account information.

Premium Subscriptions are only viewable within The Roku Channel. Additionally, search within The Roku Channel will be expanded, allowing users to easily search for keywords within the channel.

The Roku Channel will make subscription streaming easy for users by providing one destination to watch premium entertainment from more than 25 providers with a single monthly bill and simple account management.

Single bill: Subscriptions will be managed directly from my.roku.com. Customers will receive one monthly bill for all premium subscriptions on The Roku Channel.

Also, on the mobile app: Roku says that users will be able to watch content from The Roku Channel on the mobile app, anywhere in the United States. The Roku mobile app update will begin rolling out to iOS and Android devices in late January.

“We’re focused on making it easy to find great entertainment of all types on the platform and adding Premium Subscriptions is a natural evolution for The Roku Channel. As a top five channel by active account reach, The Roku Channel is already a great source for free, ad-supported entertainment and provides significant user engagement. By making it easy for users to discover, subscribe to and watch Premium Subscriptions, we believe this offering will result in increased subscriptions and user engagement for our subscription partners and an even better user experience.”
Rob Holmes, Vice President, Programming and Engagement, Roku

“One-click” signup and easy subscription management

Premium Subscriptions will offer “one-click” signup and easy subscription management. Free, live and subscription content will be presented together in The Roku Channel, making it simple to browse, subscribe to and watch a wide variety of streaming entertainment.

Roku says The Roku Channel will continue to include thousands of free, ad-supported titles available without a subscription and is available on a range of devices; users do not need any subscriptions or memberships in order to access free ad-supported content.