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Roku is bringing its Roku Channel to Amazon Fire TV, which makes sense
The Roku Channel, Roku’s free streaming service that offers more than 100,000 ad-supported titles and 115 live TV channels, is now available to Amazon Fire TV users, the company announced today. And while it may seem odd that The Roku Channel would live on Fire TV devices — Amazon and Roku are direct competitors in set-top-box hardware — it might actually make a lot of sense.
Neither Amazon nor Roku truly rely on hardware sales to boost their TV brands. Amazon’s gadgets have always been a gateway to Amazon’s services, and the company may just need more content to offer its Fire TV on top of its existing channels. Meanwhile, Roku makes the majority of its revenue through advertising and subscriptions, which is a big part of why it took so long for NBCUniversal’s Peacock to roll out on Roku. It makes sense that the company would want to make the Roku Channel accessible to as many people as possible.
Roku executives announced at the end of the company’s second quarter this year that its brand reaches an estimated 43 million people across the US. If a decent portion of those customers spend time watching The Roku Channel, Roku can make a bigger play for even more advertising revenue.
