Roku has announced the launch of Howdy, a new subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service that makes ad-free, high-quality entertainment more accessible for just $2.99 per month.
Launching nationwide in the U.S., Howdy offers subscribers unlimited access to a growing library of content that currently includes thousands of titles and nearly 10,000 hours of entertainment from its inaugural partners, Lionsgate, Warner Bros. Discovery and FilmRise, alongside select Roku Original titles.
“We’re meeting a real need for consumers who want to unwind with their favorite movies and shows uninterrupted and on their terms,” says Andy Wood, founder and CEO, Roku. “Howdy is a natural step for us at Roku, extending our mission to make better TV for everyone by making it affordable, accessible and built for how people watch today.”
According to Roku, Howdy is designed to complement, not compete with more premium services currently on the market such as Netflix or Max. At $2.99 a month, the service costs far less on average compared to the aforementioned platforms, with Netflix’s cheapest ad-supported subscription being $7.99 per month and the cheapest Max tier being $9.99 for ad-supported content.
While a novelty in today’s markets, Roku’s Howdy reflects a model that most streaming subscription services started off with: that being ad-free video watching on demand. It’s a model that many people haven’t forgotten about either, if the rise of FAST channels in the market represents anything.
Free Ad-Supported TV (FAST) channels have risen considerably within the streaming entertainment segment as premium streaming services have only gotten more expensive with even the ad-supported options on those channels still costing consumers nearly a hundred dollars each year in most cases.
Roku themselves have benefited greatly from this trend already as a recent Nielsen report for the month of May cited that combined, PlutoTV, the Roku Channel and Tubi represented 5.7% of all TV content viewed in May, which surpassed any individual broadcast network for that month.
“We’re excited to continue our longstanding collaboration with Roku on innovative ways to connect with audiences,” comments Jim Packer, president of worldwide television distribution, Lionsgate.
“With engagement of over 125 million people a day, Roku is the perfect partner to launch a more accessible complement to the higher-priced SVODs. This service has the ability to scale quickly while providing us with a new way to monetize our content, and we’re proud to be part of this new streaming experience.”
Despite still including ads in them, the mass adoption of these FAST channels shows that viewers are more willing to put up with ads if the service free. However, Roku’s Howdy presents its own question as streaming services seek to redefine themselves in this shifting landscape: what’s the sweet spot for pricing on ad-free services?
