Roku: Usage, Growth, Adding Channels and More
Updated: Jun 27
If you step inside the realm of Connected TV (CTV) and you'll find yourself amidst a technological revolution driven by innovative platforms such as Roku. Roku holds a substantial share of the connected TV market through its operating system.
Roku created the first operating system for TVs connected to the internet. They released their first streaming device, Roku DVP N1000, in 2008. As a result, they got a good head start in the CTV space. Today Roku is the leading smart TV platform by hours streamed in the USA, Canada, and Mexico.
Roku has thousands of streaming services on its platform besides the major ones you hear mentioned regularly. If you think of that in terms of having your streaming service on Roku, there is much less competition than if you were just on YouTube, which has over 60 million channels.
How many people use Roku?
They have over 70 million active accounts as of January 2023. Each account represents a household, and as many homes have more than one person in them, the household reach is much larger than that.
Roku's Growth
Roku has had a very healthy growth rate. From Q1 2022 to Q1 2023 they grew by 11 million active accounts! One would think with all the new CTV platforms that have come out since Roku's first device hit the market their growth would have slowed down. Clearly, that is not the case, they continue to be one of the most popular smart tv platforms in the world.
What Devices and TVs is Roku on?
Smart TV Brands using Roku's OS
Roku Devices
What countries is Roku in?
Roku powered devices are available in nine countries.
United States
Mexico
Canada
United Kingdom
Germany
Australia
Chile
Peru
Brazil
How to Find Channels and Apps on Roku
A lot of people do not realize it but a channel on Roku's operating system is a streaming service which is basically an app. Most people just think of Hulu, Netflix, Disney Plus, and many others but there is a lot more than that.
This should not be confused with The Roku Channel or Rokus live channel guide. This is entirely separate from that. To watch an app on Roku, you must have a TV powered by Roku or other streaming device. You can not access the streaming services available on its platform through Rokus mobile app or their app for other streaming platforms.
Roku Smart TV or other Roku device.
Just go to search on your Roku smart TV or device.
Now, you can find a channel by simply searching for it by name, if you know it
Then click on the channel your looking for and click "add channel"
You will install the channel and it will be on your home screen with all your other channels.
The other way is to search for a movie/show or type of video you would like to watch.
It will then list all channels/services that have that particular video. You can then install one of those channels if you chose to.
You can search for something as simple as just "cats" if you just want to watch something that is about cats.
Then all kinds of stuff from movies, shows, documentaries, and even channels will pop up. If you see a piece of content you like click on it, and you will see a list of channels that has it, and then just install the channel you would like to watch it.
That's it! Pretty simple