Roku has a new trick up its sleeve to take on the competition from Fire TV Stick and Chromecast with Google TV. Roku — the most popular platform in the United States to watch television — has announced plans to acquire Frndly TV, a subscription streaming service that combines live TV, on-demand video, and cloud-based recordings.
Founded six years ago in Denver, Frndly TV offers subscribers the chance to stream 50 live television channels, including staples like A&E, Hallmark Channel, The History Channel, Lifetime, and more, as well as thousands of hours of on-demand content. Like Sky Q, subscribers can record any shows they won't be able to catch live.
Starting from $6.99, Frndly TV offers an affordable way to stream live and on-demand content from a swathe of popular channels in the US
FRNDLY TV PRESS OFFICE
However, while Sky Q relies on a hard drive inside the set-top box to store these recordings, Frndly TV stores everything in the cloud.
There are a few advantages to this approach — you'll never need to worry about running out of storage and there's no limit on the number of simultaneous recordings, something that's typically restricted by the number of aerials. Frndly TV will keep any show or movie that has aired in the past 72 hours on its live channels accessible in the cloud.
With its most recent hardware, including the newly launched Sky Glass Air, the UK broadcaster has taken a similar approach, removing the spinning hard-drive and relying on the cloud for shows you've missed.
Unlike several rival platforms, Frndly lets you record films and series that you can't tune into live. These recordings are stored in the cloud, so there's no need to worry about running out of storage space
FRNDLY TV PRESS OFFICE
Based in Denver, Colarado, Frndly TV was founded in 2019. It's unclear whether Roku will be able to incorporate some of the Frndly TV functionality to its own platform, but the two brands have confirmed that the Frndly TV team — including its senior leadership — will all stay on after the transaction closes.
Discussing the acquisition, Roku founder and CEO, Anthony Wood said: "Frndly TV’s impressive growth and expertise in direct-to-consumer subscription services make it a compelling addition to Roku. This acquisition supports our focus on growing platform revenue and Roku-billed subscriptions, with a live content offering our users love at an industry-leading price point."
For Frndly TV subscribers in the United States, the acquisition won't change anything. In addition to Roku, Frndly TV says it'll continue to be available on all existing platforms and devices, including Fire TV, Android TV, Google TV, Apple TV, Samsung, Vizio, Android, and iOS.
"We’re incredibly excited to join Roku and continue our mission to provide customers feel-good, quality entertainment as the most affordable live TV subscription streaming service in America,” said Andy Karofsky, Frndly TV CEO.
"Roku’s pioneering role in streaming and its longstanding commitment to customers aligns perfectly with our strategic vision. We believe this combination will help us accelerate subscription growth, given the alignment in core customer demographics and Roku’s leadership position in the connected TV ecosystem."
Roku is believed to have paid $185 million for Frndly TV, that's roughly £136 million converted.
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It comes as the Roku — the number one TV streaming platform in the United States, Canada, and Mexico by hours spent watching — confirmed plans to add support for Freely.
Designed by the team behind Freeview and Freesat, this all-new service offers access to free-to-air channels from the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, and of course, GB News over Wi-Fi.
There's no need to plug-in an aerial, you're able to position your telly anywhere with a decent wireless signal. Freely adds several new features that were previously only possible on paid-TV platforms, like Sky Glass.
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