Roku is working to dial up the X factor for its free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) service, bringing more live sporting events to The Roku Channel with exclusive U.S. streaming rights to certain X Games competitions.
Specifically, The Roku Channel FAST will air the X Games Aspen, which take place in Colorado January 23 through January 25, featuring action sports athletes competing in ski and snowboard events. It’s also getting exclusive rights for a yet-to-be-announced “major X Games event this summer.” *Update - reporting by The Desk confirmed via a Roku spokesperson that the deal extends to the X Games Sacramento, which was recently announced and is scheduled to take place in August.
In addition to the live events, the FAST service already launched a 24-7 X Games TV FAST channel. And ahead of the live sporting events it plans to tee up a dedicated X Games Zone content hub to serve as a one-stop destination for users to browse related and shoulder content, including programming highlights, clips, and archival content.
The X Games Aspen action sports competition will stream live on the FAST’s recently launched Roku Sports Channel, which debuted in August and serves as home to all of Roku’s premium sports content.
In bringing X Games events to the FAST service and streaming platform, Roku’s Joe Franzetta cited the demo of its users as an attractive aspect to partner with The Roku Channel for distribution to help grow fans.
“This partnership with X Games is the perfect marriage between content and distribution—more than half of The Roku Channel’s monthly FAST audience are between the ages of 18 and 49, and the X Games have built a lifestyle brand that sits right at the intersection of sports and youth culture,” said Franzetta, head of Sports at Roku Media, in a statement “We look forward to using the reach of Roku to make these competitions — and the athletes at the heart of it all — accessible to millions of viewers for free.”
As of the end of Q3, Roku reported a tally of 85.5 million streaming households and during the three-month period streaming hours on The Roku Channel were up 80% year-over-year. The FAST service represented the #3 app on Roku’s platform in Q3 by both reach and engagement.
Alongside its own disclosures, Nielsen’s latest Gauge report found The Roku Channel was the most-watched FAST service in the U.S. in November, accounting for 1.9% share of TV time that month – on par with Disney+ and ahead of Fox’s Tubi, Paramount’s Pluto TV and SVODs Max, Peacock and Paramount+.
The X Games will also benefit from The Roku Channel providing free streaming access for viewers to its live events even outside of the company’s device and app ecosystem – as the FAST service last month marked deeper integration and content discovery on TVs running Android and Google TV OS. The Roku Channel is also available online, on iOS and Android mobile devices, Amazon Fire TVs and Samsung TVs.
“This collaboration ensures that the world’s premier action sports events will reach a broader audience, while celebrating the brilliance, creativity, and passion of the incredible athletes who make the X Games the ultimate stage for action sports,” commented Jeremy Bloom, CEO of the X Games, in a statement.
It’s the latest live sports for Roku, which over the summer nabbed exclusive major sports rights with MLB Sunday Leadoff games and previously picked up rights to Formula E live races. As FAST continues to be a crowded space - and one where nScreenMedia analyst Colin Dixon says improved content discovery, not more channels are needed - live sports, including niche, is one category still making a shift to free streaming with the potential to draw both advertisers and viewers.
In terms of trying to make it easier and more transparent for advertisers that want to buy FAST inventory, Roku last week announced an expanded programmatic partnership with Comcast’s FreeWheel. It makes Roku content, including The Roku Channel, available to FreeWheel demand partners through The Roku Exchange – for the first time enabling real-time bidding among programmatic platforms.
“If we want to ensure that ad-supported streaming is a premium experience, the need for interoperability across the fragmented TV landscape is imperative,” said Adam Royle, director of Ads Business Development and Strategic Partnerships at Roku, in a statement. “This is why we are thrilled to give more advertisers access to our amazing content in a direct and transparent way with FreeWheel.”
Article updated with information about X Games Sacramento.