30 Roku Originals will debut on The Roku Channel this month
On 20 May 2021, 30 titles from the Quibi acquisition will debut on The Roku Channel as the first Roku Originals in the UK.
They will be available for free to customers who have access to this TV channel, which is available on Roku devices, Sky Q and Now streaming sticks and boxes.
Some of the shows coming to the platform include Die Hart, featuring Kevin Hart, Chrissy’s Court, featuring Chrissy Teigen and Cup of Joe, featuring Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner. All 30 shows were originally available on the now defunct mobile streaming service,Quibi.
All the shows will be optimised for the traditional TV landscape orientation, but will still be packaged as short-form content. Users won’t be able to watch any of the titles in a portrait-orientation style, as they could with Quibi. To keep everything free, Roku will broadcast advertisements between each episode.
Roku believes that the company will have success with these original shows where Quibi didn’t because of its existing audience base, as well as the fact that this content is all available at no extra charge.
You can take a look at the official trailer below:
Here’s a full list of all the original content coming to The Roku Channel on 20 May:
There are plenty more Roku Originals from Quibi in the pipeline, which will be released gradually over the coming months. This includes around a dozen originals that have never been seen before.
What we don’t know is whether any of the current shows will get a second season. It seems unlikely, considering the expense that must have gone into acquiring the talent for these titles – which ultimately played a huge part in Quibi’s downfall.
To celebrate the launch, Roku is offering some discounts on its products. UK customers can get £5 off theRoku Expressand £10 off theRoku Streaming Stick+until 25 May 2021, and £30 off theRoku Streambarfrom 19 May 2021 until 8 June 2021.
The Roku Channel is also available on theRoku Express 4K, a new streaming box that is launching soon in the UK.
Author: Hannah Cowton-Barnes, Entertainment Editor, Tech Advisor
As Tech Advisor’s Entertainment Editor, Hannah is the resident expert in all things streaming, film and TV. Before joining Tech Advisor in 2019, she studied Theatre and Performance at the University of Leeds and created a website dedicated to geek culture and lifestyle. She’s also reviewed a whole range of gadgets including flagship smartphones, wearables and styling tools. Outside of Foundry, she’s written freelance pieces for Polygon, Metro and Den of Geek, and is proud to be a Women Techmakers Ambassador for Google.
