Ad policy

Roku will serve up to 8 minutes of advertisements per viewing hour. Roku's ad policy is subject to change.

Ad-Supported Content

Content should be appropriate for Roku Channel viewers and advertisers. Roku Channel does not want ad-supported content with excessive nudity or extreme or graphic violence. Use your best judgment when selecting content. If an asset is questionable, provide an alternative.

Roku reserves the right to remove or reject content it deems inappropriate.

Ad Breaks

The placement rules below apply to ad-supported content in all delivery formats. Supplying ad-break data in ingest metadata is highly recommended and helps speed up quality control.

• For Roku XML, supply ad-break timecodes in the adBreak nodes of the movie, episode, or clip metadata to trigger ad breaks during playback.
• Ad-break values should be accurate to the millisecond. Convert any frame-based time value to its millisecond equivalent.
• Roku XML and Excel ad-break timecodes must use HH:MM:SS.sss, for example 01:23:45.678.
• MovieLabs deliveries follow the MMC marker conventions for ad-break timecodes.

Movies

• No ad breaks should be listed during the first 10 minutes of playback.
• No pre-roll ad break should be listed at 00:00:00.000.
• Ad-break cue points should occur at natural scene breaks or fades to black.
• There should be at least 10 minutes between ad breaks.
• No ad breaks within 10 minutes of end credits.

Series Episodes

For episodes longer than 15 minutes:

• No ad breaks should be listed during the first 5 minutes of playback.
• No pre-roll ad break should be listed at 00:00:00.000.
• Ad-break cue points should occur at natural scene breaks or fades to black.
• There should be at least 7 minutes between ad breaks.
• No ad breaks within the last 5 minutes of end credits.

Related Specifications

See Video requirements for commercial blacks and the timing origin, and the metadata references for your delivery format.

Return to the delivery overview.