Roku to launch subscription video channels

“Roku Inc said on Wednesday it will begin offering premium video channels to customers for a subscription fee as it expands its free streaming video service,” Reuters reports. “Premium channels from CBS Corp’s Showtime, Lionsgate-owned Starz and Noggin from Viacom Inc among others will be available to viewers of the Roku Channel, a free video service offered to owners of Roku streaming video devices.”
“The move by the device maker, which spun off of Netflix in 2008, resembles the lucrative channels business Amazon launched in 2015 that resold video services on an ‘a la carte’ basis,” Reuters reports. “Apple Inc is expected to launch its own streaming video service that will adopt a similar model, people familiar with the plan have said.”
Reuters reports, “Like Amazon, Roku will handle the billing for these services, allowing viewers to subscribe directly from the Roku Channel instead of needing to go somewhere else to plug in credit card information.”
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MacDailyNews Take: (Trying) to use a Roku device after an Apple TV is like trying to drive a Toyota Yaris after a BMW M5. It sucks in very possible way.