Roku is getting a lot of hbo Max shows, including Westworld, for free

Roku is getting a lot of hbo Max shows, including Westworld, for free

If you were wondering where the HBO Max shows that Warner Bros. Discovery took away from its streaming service went, you have found your answer.

According to Variety (opens in new tab), Warner Bros. Discovery has struck a deal with Roku and Tubi to offer some of its shows and movies on its free, ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channel. Warner hinted at the move in a December press email titled "HBO Max Content Moves to FAST," but this is the first official announcement as to which FAST partners will air HBO Max programming.

Roku's FAST service (The Roku Channel) will acquire Warner Bros.' Discovery Channel this spring. These channels will include "The Bachelor," "Cake Boss," "Say Yes to the Dress," "F-Boy Island," and the acclaimed HBO series "Westworld" from Warner Bros.' entire network portfolio. A wide range of content will be included.

But that is not all that will appear on The Roku Channel. In addition to the aforementioned programming, Roku will add approximately 2,000 hours of on-demand content from hundreds of television shows and movies in Warner Bros. Discovery's vast catalog; according to Variety, this content includes "HBO, HBO Max, Discovery Channel, HGTV, Food Network, TLC, Warner Bros. Pictures, Warner Bros. Television, and others."

The details of Tubi's partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery are a bit more specific. Tubi, a free streaming service under Fox, will add "14 WB-branded FAST channels and over 225 ad-supported VOD titles. This will add over 2,000 hours of free ad-supported content to Tubi, a major win for the platform.

The new WBD content will launch on Tubi as early as tomorrow (February 1) and will take the entire month of February to fully roll out. Below is a list of everything that has been confirmed to be coming to Tubi as part of this deal.

Ultimately, these contracts feel like a big win for Roku, Tubi, and the FAST service in general. Even if it is all old content. These services can have a significant content advantage over other FAST services like Viacom's Pluto TV and Amazon's freevee.

Hundreds, if not thousands, of hours of content can be watched without having to pay or share passwords, and with paid streaming services like Netflix cracking down on password sharing, choosing one of the best free streaming services is a big selling point.

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