Roku Hits One Billionth Stream; Users Average 10hrs Viewing Per Week

Roku has announced that it has recently served its one billionth stream of content, hot on the heels of confirmation that one million of the company's streaming STBs had been sold. According to the company, Roku viewers averaged over 11 hours of playback per week, and Roku reckons its user-base now matches the reach of a top-10 cable company.

Roku CEO Anthony Wood actually credited Apple and the launch of the streaming-centric Apple TV for the success of Roku in 2010, claiming that the high-profile device actually helped raise awareness of streaming media.

Press Release:

Roku Reaches 1 Billion Streams of Content to the TV

User base now matches reach of a Top 10 cable company; Over 130 unique streaming entertainment channels now available.

Saratoga, Calif. – January 4, 2011 – Roku, Inc., maker of the award-winning family of Roku streaming players, announced today that the company served its one billionth stream of content. This follows on the company's previous announcement of surpassing 1 million units in 2010.

Roku streaming players continue to grow in popularity and usage as Roku makes more streaming apps, or "channels," available. In December 2010, Roku players averaged over 11 hours of playing time per week – a significant amount of TV viewing for Roku customers when compared to the national average of 36 hours per week.

"A billion streams is pretty amazing and shows just how engaged our customers are with their Roku players," said Anthony Wood, founder and CEO of Roku, Inc. "If you think about it, our active user base now matches that of a top 10 US cable company. Our core values of simplicity, great content and affordability clearly resonate with mainstream customers."

Starting at $59.99, Roku players now feature over 100,000 movies and TV shows from Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX), Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) Video On Demand and Hulu Plus; live and on demand sports and highlights from MLB.TV, NHL GameCenter Live and NBA GameTime; music from Pandora, MP3tunes, MOG, and TuneIn Radio; photo and video sharing from Flickr and Facebook; plus news and entertainment from thousands of sources around the world. The Roku platform has become the platform of choice for top content partners looking to reach TV viewers via instant and live streaming.

About Roku, Inc.

The market leader in streaming entertainment devices for the TV with over 1 million units sold, Roku has always believed that anything you want to watch, listen to, and enjoy should simply be there on your TV, whenever you want it. Roku streaming players are renowned for their simplicity, variety of entertainment choices, and exceptional value. Roku is privately held and based in Saratoga, Calif.