If, after reading this, you feel like you’ve got a bit of Inception, you’re not alone. Roku has announced that you’ll be able to subscribe to the Paramount+ streaming service later this month from within The Roku Channel. It’ll still cost exactly the same — $5 a month for the version with ads, or $10 a month if you want to get rid of most ads.
Why do this, instead of just having a separate subscription and its own channel (which is what Roku basically calls apps) on Roku? In addition to letting Roku manage the billing, you’ll get the Paramount+ content right alongside everything else that’s tucked into The Roku Channel, which also is available on Amazon Fire TV, Samsung smart TVs, and in a web browser. It’s another way to make The Roku Channel (and the ads Roku sells for it) a premium destination on the biggest streaming platform in the United States, and it’s bringing what’s new on Paramount+ with it.
“We’re thrilled to partner with Paramount+ in its continued growth, and for the ability to provide our audience with easy access to its extraordinary breadth of content, IP, and live news and sporting events” Rob Holmes, Vice President of Programming for Roku, said in a press release. “Premium Subscriptions connects today’s highest-quality content providers to the millions of streamers on The Roku Channel, and we’re excited to introduce streamers to everything that Paramount+ has to offer directly within The Roku Channel.”
Paramount+ — which is home to all things Star Trek, along with live sports like the Champions League and the National Women’s Soccer League — increases the total number of premium services available on the platform to more than 50. Like other premium services on Roku, Paramount+ lets you test things out with a free seven-day trial.
“Paramount+ features an expansive breadth of content for the whole household, spanning original dramas, blockbuster movies, popular unscripted series, sports and news, all at a competitive price point,” Jeff Shultz, chief strategy officer and chief business development officer for Paramount Streaming, said in the press release. “We are excited to expand our successful partnership with Roku and bring Paramount+ to The Roku Channel.”
Roku has some 55.1 million active accounts as of July 2022, and makes the lion’s share of its revenue on the “platform” side, meaning advertising and other non-hardware things. Paramount+ reported just under 40 million subscribers as of the first quarter of 2022.
