Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Where does Roku bring the extra $100M to buy unpopular shows? Why get Roku in the first place, most modern devices have an App that can stream any service

Roku is a very big player for the living room, greatly more so than Apple TV for comparisons. To be featured in Roku, they require you to support IAP which also means they get a part of those transactions. They also have their own ad platform that many partners/vendors use.

Why get Roku? It's easy to use and cheap, and in the US (believe it or not), it's what most people consume living room content on. I personally dislike the UX, but I understand its appeal which the numbers do not lie about.
 
Does anyone know someone who uses Roku to any significant level? I know they have a significant share of device shipments due to being baked into low end televisions but I've never heard anyone talking about using Roku as their primary streaming device. Anecdotal, I know. They just seem to me like the Crackle of streaming appliances.
I own a new $2000 Sony TV in my living room and a $250 TCL Roku TV in my bedroom. Guess which one I love? I feel stupid for buying the Sony. The Roku is so fast and the image quality is great. Sony is clunky and slow.
 
Roku is a very big player for the living room, greatly more so than Apple TV for comparisons. To be featured in Roku, they require you to support IAP which also means they get a part of those transactions. They also have their own ad platform that many partners/vendors use.

Why get Roku? It's easy to use and cheap, and in the US (believe it or not), it's what most people consume living room content on. I personally dislike the UX, but I understand its appeal which the numbers do not lie about.

But why? All modern devices have all the streaming apps and all modern tvs. Roku sounds great for someone who an older tv and does not own another modern devices like Apple TV or Playstation.
 
But why? All modern devices have all the streaming apps and all modern tvs. Roku sounds great for someone who an older tv and does not own another modern devices like Apple TV or Playstation.

That’s not entirely true. First, whenever someone makes a streaming app, they must get on Roku. The number of Roku users out there in the U.S. are way more than Apple TV and consoles. Second, it’s much cheaper to populate the average multiroom household with Rokus than Apple TVs and Playstations. Third, the UX is very consistent across all its hardware. And there is a wide variety of hardware ranging from sticks to built-in smart tv OS. Lastly, app stability tends to lean on the spotty side on platforms like PlayStation. You usually have to build natively on stringent timelines which leads to bugs. Roku has a very stringent approval process for featured apps.
 
That’s not entirely true. First, whenever someone makes a streaming app, they must get on Roku. The number of Roku users out there in the U.S. are way more than Apple TV and consoles. Second, it’s much cheaper to populate the average multiroom household with Rokus than Apple TVs and Playstations. Third, the UX is very consistent across all its hardware. And there is a wide variety of hardware ranging from sticks to built-in smart tv OS. Lastly, app stability tends to lean on the spotty side on platforms like PlayStation. You usually have to build natively on stringent timelines which leads to bugs. Roku has a very stringent approval process for featured apps.

But the TV itself has the streaming apps. I mean, if my TV has YouTube and Netflix app, why should I be a Roku, dedicated 1 HDMI input to it, launch Roku and use YouTube and Netflix from there? going through extra step for same results?
 
But the TV itself has the streaming apps. I mean, if my TV has YouTube and Netflix app, why should I be a Roku, dedicated 1 HDMI input to it, launch Roku and use YouTube and Netflix from there? going through extra step for same results?

It’s not a matter of “should” but a matter of what people like or are comfortable to use. Roku has been around for a very long time and is easy to use. It’s a fallacy to think that people only resort to the first or most powerful device they have for streaming. For example, Samsung TV apps are notoriously buggy and have a ton of extra bloat. The Tizen OS is very complete, but it also has its nuances that many do not prefer over Roku. YMMV
 
But the TV itself has the streaming apps. I mean, if my TV has YouTube and Netflix app, why should I be a Roku, dedicated 1 HDMI input to it, launch Roku and use YouTube and Netflix from there? going through extra step for same results?
Hulu? HBO Max? Disney+? Discovery+? CBS All Access? Amazon Video? Tubi? PlutoTV? I can keep going if you'd like.

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, stop shilling for Apple and against Roku here. We all know what the true motivation is.

Roku is currently winning the streaming device war and has been winning it for quite some time.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.