As pay TV bundles get skinnier and skinnier, Roku's Live TV Channel Guide gets fatter and fatter.
The free-to-view home of more than 200 linear channels has added 17 more networks. The list is highlighted by the El Rey Network, a seven-year-old movie channel, founded by filmmaker Robert Rodriguez, that left pay TV program grid last year after dropping below critical mass in terms of distribution, and co-investor Univision pulled its support.
El Rey announced its launch on Roku earlier Monday.
The added channels, which launch on Roku's ad-supported linear TV service Tuesday, also include a new network themed around Australian aughts-era kids classic series The Wiggles.
The full list of 17 networks is below.
Roku reported "platform revenue" (which is mainly advertising) of $532.3 million for the second quarter, a yearly growth benchmark of 117%.
The company attributes much of that expansion to the Roku Channel and its associated components.
"It's growing much faster than the overall platform and even the AVOD, the ad-supported segment overall," said Scott Rosenberg, senior VP and GM of Roku's platform biz, to equity analysts. "And so as a result, it is taking on increased prominence, increased importance over time, just as a supply source for our video advertising."
Here's the 17 added networks:
AccuWeather Now
Baywatch
CBC
El Rey
Estrella Games
FilmRise Kids
FilmRise True Crime
Haunt TV
IGN
Mega Noticias
RCN Más
Real Madrid TV
So...Real
The Only Way Is Essex
Tribeca Channel
The Wiggles powered by Loop Media, Inc.
Vivaldi
