Roku’s white label licensing business model has worked in the UK and will in due course be extended to other markets, according to Anthony Wood, the company’s founder and CEO.
Speaking in a keynote presentation at TV Connect, he added that white label licensing is currently one of four ways in which Roku derives its revenues, the others being selling its hardware, promotions, etc and licensing the platform to TV manufacturers.
Wood said 49% of UK consumers are watching steaming TV (OTT) regularly and that there are expected to be 120 million streaming devices in the country by 2017. The company’s data shows that 75% of consumers generally prefer to view their video on a TV.
Roku currently offers 1,200 channels in the US and 750 in the UK (it is also present in Canada and Ireland).
This, for instance, compares with 28 and 15 respectively in the case of Apple TV.
Wood added that there is a growing demand for TV Everywhere from viewers and they regard pay-TV operators who offer such services more favourably.
In the UK, Sky, which is also an investor, is working with Roku (Now TV), while in the US Time Warner offers 300 channels of live TV.
Roku streamed 1.7 billion hours of content in 2013, or 70% more than a year earlier, and lead both in terms of daily usage and best word of mouth, in the latter case effectively matching Apple TV.
Roku is currently used around 12-14 hours a week by its customers on average, though 25% do so for 35 hours a week.
Wood said that as many of its partners already have content on mobile, its focus is on the big screen.
He also said that he envisages a role for seconds screen sync apps and that he saw Roku replacing DVRs in the future.
