Roku, Inc. (NASDAQ: ROKU) recently announced it is partnering with NBCUniversal Local to bring several NBC local news channels to The Roku Channel. Starting today, the channels will be available for users to access through The Roku Channel’s Live TV Guide. Through the partnership, NBCUniversal Local will bring local news channels from its NBC stations in major markets around the United States, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas/Fort Worth, Washington DC, Hartford (CT), and South Florida, to The Roku Channel. Additional NBCUniversal Local channels will be added to The Roku Channel’s Live TV Guide in the coming months. The partnership with NBCUniversal Local marks the first time that local news programming will be available for users on The Roku Channel.
“Audiences are increasingly opting to consume news through streaming, and local news has consistently been one of the top requested categories by our users,” said Ashley Hovey, Head of The Roku Channel, AVOD. “We’re excited to work with NBCUniversal Local and the NBC Stations to expand our relevant live TV offering for streamers and to bring news from multiple major cities to millions of viewers across the country to easily access and enjoy.”
“Local news has never been more vital to helping our audiences stay informed about what’s happening in their communities,” said Meredith McGinn, Executive Vice President of Diginets and Original Production, NBCUniversal Local. “We look forward to bringing our NBC local news channels and our stations’ best-in-class journalism to the millions of people The Roku Channel reaches and to launching more of our NBC local news channels to expand streamers’ access to our local news content.”
The NBC local news channels will feature the latest local news, breaking updates, weather forecast, and live events from that designated area. The addition of the channels will complement The Roku Channel’s existing lineup of national news options, which includes NBC News Now, making both local and national news easily accessible to audiences.
Channels arriving on The Roku Channel include:
- NBC New York News.
- NBC Los Angeles News.
- NBC Chicago News.
- NBC Philadelphia News.
- NBC Dallas/Fort Worth News.
- NBC Washington, D.C. News.
- NBC Connecticut News.
- NBC South Florida News.
NBCUniversal Local is NBCUniversal’s local media division that delivers English and Spanish-speakers and bilingual audiences in 31 U.S. markets and Puerto Rico, the very best in local sports, news, weather, consumer and investigative reporting, and lifestyle entertainment across any platform and screen. The division is comprised of three individual media groups including the NBC Owned Television Stations group, the NBC Sports Regional Networks and the Telemundo Station Group. The division is also home to multicast networks LX News, COZI TV, and TeleXitos. The NBC Owned Television Stations group includes 12 NBC television stations and a regional news network that serve the largest markets in the nation, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas/Fort Worth, San Francisco Bay Area, Boston, Washington, D.C., Miami-Fort Lauderdale, San Diego, Hartford, CT and Puerto Rico. The NBC stations deliver local news, weather, investigative and consumer reporting to audiences across multiple platforms.
The Roku Channel is a leader in free, ad-supported linear TV (FAST). The Roku Channel was the No. 1 FAST service by active account reach on the Roku platform in the U.S. in Q1 2022. The Roku Channel’s Live TV guide features more than 300 linear channels across news, sports, music, and entertainment to enjoy.
The Roku Channel features a diverse lineup of more than 80,000 free movies and programs and over 300 linear television channels in the U.S, as well as Premium Subscriptions from over 50 content partners. It licenses and distributes content from more than 250 partners. In addition to Roku devices, The Roku Channel is available on Web, iOS and Android devices, Amazon Fire TV and select Samsung TVs and can be accessed internationally in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. In Q4 2021, The Roku Channel reached U.S. households with an estimated 80 million people. The Roku Channel was a top 5 channel on the Roku platform in the U.S. by active account reach and streaming hour engagement in Q1 2022.