Roku is expanding its international presence with the introduction of the Roku Powered programme.
Aimed at pay TV service providers outside of the US, Roku is now licensing the technology that powers its streaming platform to enable providers to use the internet to deliver customized entertainment to consumers.
“There has been incredible demand from pay TV providers for a simple way to address the increasing consumer interest in Internet-delivered entertainment,” said Steve Shannon, general manager of content and services at Roku.
“Our world-class software, cost-effective hardware design, and broad content selection make Roku the ideal strategic partner for Pay TV providers to work with to transform their user experience and set the stage for success in this fast-changing world of Internet-delivered video.”
The Roku Powered programme allows for customisation and integration with pay TV services. Roku pioneered this approach in partnership with BSkyB (Sky). Following a commercial relationship that was established in 2012, Roku and Sky developed the Now TV Box, which launched in July 2013. It was the first time Roku had licensed its award-winning streaming platform, allowing Sky to extend its leadership in over-the-top video by harnessing a cost-effective hardware design coupled with a secure software platform.
“The innovative licensing approach we developed with Roku dramatically reduced our time to market, enabling us to capitalize on the growing demand for Internet TV by launching a powerful and great value streaming box,” said Emma Lloyd, director of corporate business development at Sky.
“The Now TV Box is already a key component in our over-the-top leadership, giving customers another simple way of accessing Sky content and further extending our distribution footprint.”
