Already on pace to take in $1 billion in revenue this year, with a focus remaining on the North American market, Roku sees an even bigger opportunity in international markets.
“International is so important for us because 81% of OTT viewing happens outside of the United States. And 61% of ad budgets come from outside the United States. There are enormous budgets,” said Tariq Mahmoud, director of international ad sales and strategy for Roku, speaking to AdExchanger.
In the U.S., Mahmoud said, OTT ad spending accounts for only 3% of ad budgets, even though OTT viewing accounts for 30% of TV consumption. But the balance is improving domestically.
Related: Global AVOD Revenue to Reach $56 Billion by 2024
“Outside of the United States there’s way more room for improvement,” he added. “You might have a conversation with a TV or digital buyer and they won’t even know who the OTT point of contact is.”
Roku’s “platform revenue”—which is mainly what it makes selling advertising on its AVOD platform, the Roku Channel, as well is in other parts of the Roku ecosystem—was $134.2 million in the first quarter, up 79% year over year.
Roku did not disclose how much of that revenue was generated by international viewing.
