Can Roku Channel Keep Pace in the Streaming Wars? Its Head of Content Thinks So

In a streaming world filled with giant platforms spending $15 billion per year or more on content, a surprise player raised eyebrows last month when it hit 2 percent of TV viewing time in Nielsen’s Gauge report: The Roku Channel.

Two percent of viewing may be small compared to YouTube’s 11 percent, or Netflix’s 8.5 percent, but that was more viewing that Max, Paramount+ or Peacock, and also more than Tubi, Fox’s free streaming platform.

David Eilenberg, the head of content for Roku, says that while the company isn’t trying to compete with the Netflix’s or YouTube’s of the world, it has a long runway to keep growing.

“We’ve been really clear from the beginning of our originals journey that we’re not participating in shock and awe spending wars with the SVODs. That’s not a winning strategy for us,” Eilenberg says.

While Roku Channel has breadth and depth of acquired fare, with its originals the streaming service has chosen to lean into a few specific areas.

“We’ve sharpened our originals focus into a few core categories that we’ve seen success with, and I think we’re gonna continue to sort of double down on those. Most notably those are lifestyle categories like food and home, and then programming around sports,” Eilenberg says. “And you know, “There’s a whole host of reasons for that. I think we found an endemic viewership for those categories, and they are also categories that our advertisers feel comfortable with, so it serves two of our most important constituencies.”

“We have found a few really nice lanes, some great franchises,” he adds, listing off shows like The Great American Baking Show and The Rich Eisen Show, and hinting that the company plans to expand on those themes.

But Roku has a few secret weapons up its sleeve, including the fact that Roku the platform currently has around 90 million monthly active users, and growing.

“I think because of the magnitude of our platform, the addressable audience is really, really, really large.” he says. “So we have to take a diversified approach to the portfolio that we put inside Roku channel. So what you see is everything from network sitcoms to news feeds from major news bureaus to the Mr. Beast FAST channel.”

And the channel is also willing to work with the entertainment giants as a partner, not just a competitor. Consider the promotional push by Apple earlier this month, in which it made season one of Severance available for free on Roku Channel ahead of season two.

“In some way, everybody’s TV event is also our TV event,” Eilenberg says, noting that NBC’s late night shows also upload sketches and segments to Roku Channel after they air on TV. “If they then get people into Peacock, that is part of our ultimate goal as well, right? Is to be the home to whatever streaming app the user wants to find themselves with.”

But Eilenberg says that the company is also turning to “micro insights” that help the company adjust to viewing trends or habits. That led to Roku Channel mixing both FAST channels (which play a slate of curated programming, a la traditional linear TV), and on-demand streaming options.

It’s also why, if you opened the app in December, you may have seen a hefty dose of family movies.

“We had an especially strong package of licensed movies in December, and that’s just driven by an insight that as people gather with their families, they tend to want to watch a lot more movies,” Eilsenberg says, contrasting it to a new TV series, where “probably you’re not going to be with that exact group of people to continue that journey.”