When Roku Channel launched its live-TV programming guide two years ago, it seemed pretty transparent that the intention was to mimic and replace the grid-like channel-surfing bliss of pay TV.
Now the experience is complete.
Qurate Retail has announced that its venerable TV shopping channels, QVC and HSN, will operate the first live-streamed "experiences" on Roku Channel.
The channels will add 40 hours of live-streamed virtual commerce (vCommerce) programming to Roku Channel each week, including QVC's In the Kitchen with David, and HSN's Gotta See G by Giuliana Rancic. (Pre-recorded content will fill out the rest of the week.)
Update: Due to Roku's bizarro media strategy of having its individual partners leak channel announcements, a flurry of Roku Channel additions were actually announced Tuesday, including an expansion of NBCU and Telemundo news content, as well as the addition of FITE TV.
Qurate Retail just reported a $2.74 billion third quarter loss, which company executives attributed to weakened consumer sentiment.
Roku Channel, however, offers an opportunity for the venerable TV marketing company to reinvigorate its market on a top-five FAST reaching 80 million streaming households.
It's an, er, exciting opportunity.
"We are excited to bring QVC and HSN's entertaining and engaging livestream shopping experiences to the millions of viewers found on The Roku Channel, one of the industry's leading FAST channel services," said David Apostolico, senior VP of platform strategy, development and distribution and vCommerce aentures at Qurate Retail GroupSM. "We're excited to welcome new and existing customers to QVC and HSN via The Roku Channel, while providing yet another convenient way for our fans to access our uniquely engaging vCommerce content."
