Popular smart TV platform Roku, in its earnings call, announced that it plans to put video ads on its home screen. Up until now, Roku has stuck with static ads that appear throughout the platform's user interface and apps. Now, going forward, similar to some other platforms like Amazon, Roku will show you video ads on its platform.
Ads have been and will continue to be a major part of every smart TV streaming platform. However, how these ads are shown varies from platform to platform. Roku CEO Anthony Wood announced that video ads will show up on the home screen of the platform.
Anthony added, "On the home screen today, there's the premier video app we call the marquee ad and that ad traditionally has been static. We're going to add a video to that ad. So that'll be the first video ad that we add to the home screen. That will be a big change for us."
When Roku CEO was asked about ad revenue and the home screen during the Q1 2024 earnings call (PDF) (via Cord Cutters News), he said:
But to give you some examples of the kinds of things we’re looking at on the home screen, on the home screen today, there’s the premier video app we called the Marquee and that traditionally has been a static ad. We’re going to add video to that ad. So that will be the first video ad in that we add to the home screen. That will be a big change for us.” Wood went on to say, “We’re also testing other types of video ad units, looking at other experiences we can add to the home screen that would be where we can innovate more video advertising. So that’s something we’re looking at.
Amazon also did the same thing by adding autoplay video ads to its platform last year. During the earnings call, Roku CEO Anthony Woods also said that "the company is testing other types of video ad units." Moreover, the company is also looking for more ways to bring ads to the Roku OS home screen.
This move comes as part of Roku's initiative to expand the ad presence on the Roku OS via FAST (free ad-supported streaming TV) channels and also by putting content recommendations on the home screen for the first time, which, according to Woods, would obviously be 'AI-driven recommendations'.
Anthony also said, "There are lots of ways we're working on enhancing the home screen to make it more valuable to viewers but also increase the monetization on the home screen."
Let us know your thoughts about video ads on the Roku home screen, and what do you think about video ads in general?
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