The popular smart TV platform Roku, in its earnings call, announced that it plans to place video ads on its home screen. Until now, Roku has stuck to 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 central part of any smart TV streaming platform. However, how these ads are displayed varies from platform to platform. Roku CEO Anthony Wood announced that video ads will appear on the platform’s home screen.
Anthony added, “On today’s home screen, there’s the top video app that we call the Marquee ad, and traditionally that ad has been static. We’re going to add video to that ad. So this will be the first video ad that we’re adding to the home screen. That’s going to be a big change. for us.”
When Roku’s CEO was asked about ad and home screen revenue during the Q1 2024 earnings call (PDF) (Through Cord cutting 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 leading video app that we called Marquee and which traditionally was a static ad. We are going to add video to this ad. So this will be the first video ad we add to the home screen. That’s going to be a big change for us.” Wood continued, “We’re also looking at other types of video ad units, looking at other experiences that we can add to the home screen that will be where we can innovate more with video advertising. So that’s something we’re looking at.
Amazon also did the same by adding autoplay video ads to its platform last year. During the earnings call, Roku CEO Anthony Woods also said that “the company is looking at other types of video ad units.” Moreover, the company is also looking for more ways to bring ads to the Roku OS home screen.
The move comes as part of Roku’s initiative to expand its ad presence on the Roku operating system through FAST channels (ad-supported streaming for free) and also by putting content recommendations on the home screen for the first time, which Woods said. They are clearly ‘artificial intelligence driven recommendations’.
Anthony also said, “There are many ways we’re working on improving the home screen to make it more valuable for viewers but also to increase monetization on the home screen.”
Tell us what you think about video ads on the Roku home screen, and what do you think about video ads in general?