Haier America has begun to sell a new line of connected TVs with Roku’s streaming platform built in, a move that comes about eight months after the companies announced the partnership at the International CES in Las Vegas.
Haier said the new models – with screen sizes ranging from 32-inches to 55-inches, are now available at several retailers, including Conn’s Home Plus as well as NATM stores such as Nebraska Furniture Mart.
Haier is kicking off its portion of the Roku TV era with the following 4-Series models:
-55E4500R: $ 749.99
-49E4500R: $ 599.99
-43E4500R: $ 449.99
-32E4000R: $ 299.99
"Haier has a long history of producing quality, yet affordable, TVs and these new Haier Roku TV models provide consumers with a great option for bringing the Roku TV experience into their homes,” Chas Smith, GM of OEM for Roku, said in a statement.
Roku, which offers more than 2,000 streaming “channels” on its platform also has integrated TV deals with Sharp, TCL, Hisense and Insignia (Best Buy’s in-house brand). In that grouping, Hisense is in the process of acquiring Sharp America's TV business for North America and South America. Roku announced earlier this year that TCL is its initial partner for coming 4K-capable Roku TV models.
Roku hasn’t announced how many Roku TVs have shipped. It has shipped more than 10 million streaming players in the U.S.
On the content side of the house, FilmRise announced Tuesday that it has launched several new free streaming channels on the Roku platform, ranging from international cinema to special interest feature and series.
FilmRise’s offering, developed in partnership with app development company Float Left Interactive, includes the flagship FilmRise channel, FilmRise Cinematheque, and Mutant Sorority Pictures, which features titles such as The Toxic Avenger.
FilmRise plans to launch additional streaming channels later in 2015 including FilmRise Paranormal and FilmRise True Crime.
