Streaming hardware manufacturer Roku appears to be embarking on the creation of original content. This is thanks to a job posting on LinkedIn for a lead production attorney.
Although the position is now closed, the job posting includes several important details. One of them is the fact that Roku is looking for an attorney for "original episodic and feature-length work." Since Roku is not currently producing original content, this would mean that they are just getting started.
Roku has a lot of content from other companies as part of the Roku Channel, including the rights to shows developed by the now defunct Quibi. However, there are still no programs actually produced by Roku itself.
This suggests that Roku will be actively involved in the production of content from day one, rather than just purchasing the rights to existing content, as Roku Channel has done in the past.
However, we have some questions as to what this might entail. Currently, the Roku Channel is a free, ad-supported service that is available to anyone with a Roku (or Amazon Fire TV, Samsung Smart TV, or Roku mobile app). Will things stay the same once original content begins to be offered, or will there be a premium version of Roku Channel?
It may be the former; Rob Holmes, Roku's VP of programming, told Variety, "At a very high level, we know that users are engaging with free content in very significant ways."
One question for Roku's content going forward is how they will promote it on their devices; one of the advantages of the Roku device and the Roku channel itself is that it does not push one company's content over another's. The Roku device and the Roku channel themselves do not push one company's content over another's. Unlike Amazon Fire TV, which seemingly has a dedicated Prime Video interface, everything is just there.
If Roku channels start emphasizing their own content over others, their relationships with other streaming services could take a hit; Amazon doesn't have Peacock yet, and Roku just got the HBO Max app, so they don't have the same It's not hard to see why they wouldn't want to have problems.
It is unclear how long it will take Roku to start releasing its own original content, especially given the production limitations caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Therefore, we will just have to sit tight and wait. Let's hope we start seeing Quibi content soon.
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