Roku platform overview

Roku is an open streaming platform that is revolutionizing how consumers watch video content. Roku is at the forefront of the streaming age, having pioneered video streaming in the United States and rapidly expanding its reach across the globe. Roku produces award-winning streaming players and soundbars, and has developed what is now the #1 selling smart TV streaming OS in the US, Canada, and Mexico.

The Roku OS is built specifically for streaming, which means publishers can seamlessly develop intuitive, high-performance apps designed especially for the TV. With 100 million streaming households worldwide and 37.9 billion hours watched last quarter, publishers can distribute their apps around the globe to expand their reach and monetize their content.

As TV viewing continues to shift to streaming platforms, Roku is well-positioned to help content publishers with a sophisticated suite of tools that make it easy to distribute and monetize content. The Roku Developer Program empowers content publishers to build Roku streaming apps. You can use our developer SDK to build a customized streaming experience.

Our goal is to encourage the success of partners on our platform. We offer multiple paths to monetization, whether you choose to charge a subscription fee, offer free streaming content supported by advertising or even a combination of both, Roku can support many monetization strategies. We have a team that is dedicated to helping content publishers grow their audience on our platform and capture the increasing number of viewers who are no longer tuning into traditional TV.

Introduction to the Roku platform video

What to know before building a streaming app

Roku offers a number of valuable resources for content publishers and developers. These resources explain the Roku platform, starting with an overview of how over-the-top (OTT) video streaming works and drilling all the way down to how to build and monetize a user base on the platform.

Please keep in mind that these are high-level summaries. After reviewing these materials, click into the related documentation in order to better understand the tactical implementation steps necessary for each topic.

In this section, you'll find:

• How apps work — A high-level overview of different components required to distribute content on the Roku platform.

• App development with the Roku SDK — A summary of the app development features offered by the Roku SDK.

• Content engagement — Introduction to the various features, programs, and mechanisms available to increase the discoverability of content among target audiences.

• Monetization — Learn about the two overarching monetization models (ads and subscriptions) available to Roku content publishers, including payout terms.

• Analytics & reporting — Information about the various reports available to publishers on the platform, including audience demographics analytics, crash reports, sales activity, transactions, and more.

• Security — Introduction to the security protocols that exist on the Roku platform, from system and application security to supported DRM formats and user information protection.

• Legal — A review of federal and international regulations to be aware of when developing a Roku streaming app, as well as the contractual terms you'll need to agree to before distributing content on the Roku platform.

To learn more about how Roku apps work, read on!