Roku is acquiring online subscription television service Frndly TV for $185 million in cash, with $75 million held back subject to performance over the next two years. Frndly TV offers channels like A&E, Hallmark, The History Channel, and The Weather Channel, starting at $6.99 a month, with unlimited network video recording stored for up to nine months and up to four simultaneous streams in high definition from $9.99 a month.
“Frndly TV’s impressive growth and expertise in direct-to-consumer subscription services make it a compelling addition to Roku,” said Anthony Wood, the founder and chief executive of 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.”
“There’s a lot of people that like to just flip through the channels,” he told analysts. “One way I think about Frndly is it’s a lot of brands that I think will stick around, things like Lifetime, Hallmark, A&E. I mean, these brands are popular, they have good content.”
Based in Denver, Colorado, Frndly TV was founded in 2019 by former Dish Network executives. The leadership and team will stay on after the transaction closes, which is expected in the next few months.
Andy Karofsky, the co-founder and chief executive of Frndly said: “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.”
In addition to Roku, Frndly TV will continue to be available on all platforms and devices where it’s available today, including Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Google TV, Apple TV, Samsung, Vizio, the web, and mobile through Android and iOS.
Announcing results of the first quarter of 2025, Roku said its total quarterly revenue was $1.02 billion, down on $1.20 billion the previous quarter but up 16% year on year. It made an operating loss of $57 million, compared to a loss of $39 million the previous quarter but an improvement on the loss of $72 million in the first quarter of 2024. It is forecasting net revenue of $4.55 billion in 2025, with a loss of $30 million.
Roku is the leading television operating system in the United States, with the Roku TV OS representing nearly 40% of television units sold, which is greater than those of the next two operating systems combined. As well as licencing its operating system to other manufacturers, Roku designs, makes, and sells its own brand televisions. In addition to Roku boxes, it offers streaming sticks. Its latest designs are designed to be powered directly by the HDMI port of compatible televisions.
Anthony Wood told analysts that trade tariffs could result in a slight decline in television sales but said it was unlikely to its market share. “We’re well positioned, much better positioned than others, given our significant penetration in over half of US broadband households. Our scale is continuing to grow. We’re well on track to achieve 100 million streaming households.”