In an interview at the Tribeca Festival on Friday, Roku CEO Anthony Wood boasted about his company’s increasing roster of free (ad-supported) television and movie offerings, according to The Hollywood Reporter. A big feather in its cap, he said, was the recent acquisition of the material from Jeffrey Katzenberg boondoggle Quibi, the now-dead streaming platform.
More people have watched Quibi’s preexisting short-form programming via Roku in the first two weeks than in Quibi’s entire lifetime (which was roughly eight months), according to Wood.
Some of the talent Quibi scored before it went under includes Sophie Turner, Jennifer Lopez, Chrissy Teigen, Lena Waithe, Liam Hemsworth, Christoph Waltz, Chance the Rapper, Idris Elba, Kevin Hart, Anna Kendrick, Mark Pellington, and many others.
“To be honest we just got a good deal,” Wood said. “It was great content, high production value at a price that was quite reasonable.”
Roku’s purchase of the massive trove of “quick bites” content from the failed subscription-based service was confirmed in January in what was then viewed as a surprise move.
Roku’s model of ad-supported video on demand (AVOD), also seen on services such as Pluto, may seem a bit retro for the streaming age—who wants to take a break for commercial messages?—but industry experts have acknowledged some recent successes. As far as the knell for broadcast television goes, Wood said: “I think by the end of the decade, everyone is going to be watching TV via streaming.”
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