While Roku had yet another rift with a tech giant, Amazon decided to play nice. As of today, the two companies have secured a multi-year extension of their distribution agreement for Amazon Prime Video and IMDb TV apps on Roku devices.
In a statement issued, Roku confirmed this by saying:
Roku and Amazon have reached a multi-year extension to their distribution agreement. Customers can still access the Prime Video and IMDb TV apps on their Roku devices.
The terms of the agreement were not disclosed. However, Roku users will be happy to know that they can still access the free add-on channel IMDb TV, which features titles like Judy Justice, Bug Out, and Leverage: Redemption.
Today’s announcement gave Roku a boost to its share price, which rose $6.39 to $132.11 in morning trade on the Nasdaq Exchange.
Also, the deal comes at a great time as Prime Video has recently become the exclusive hub of the NFL’s Thursday night football games and they are at the top of the list for snagging the league’s NFL Sunday ticket starting next year . It was also recently announced that the New York Yankees will now be broadcasting 21 games exclusively on the platform.
You could say Roku has had its disagreements with streaming video platforms and isn’t shy about making demands. YouTube TV was in the firing line last year when Roku threatened to take the popular video streaming service off Roku devices. The problem has since been resolved, luckily without hurt egos.
Additionally, the lack of an agreement with Roku slowed the launch of WarnerMedia’s HBO Max in 2020, negatively impacting new subscriptions at the time. Later that year, a subsequent agreement helped spur subscriber growth, with HBO Max having nearly 74 million combined subscribers at the end of 2021.
Roku remains at the forefront of the CTV device market. As of the fourth quarter of 2021, the company had a total of approximately 60.1 million monthly active accounts in the US. Analysts predict that it will have 72 million users in 2022.
Customers with a Roku streaming device can navigate to the Amazon Prime Video app, where the subscription costs $8.99 per month. The IMDb TV app is free.