Introducing its Roku Channel as an original programming proposition for the first time, Roku made an obvious play for linear TV’s still dominant market share during its “NewFront” presentation to advertisers Monday.
In its pitch, Roku noted that the median age of the 148 million viewers within reach of the Roku Channel is only 39. That compares to a median age of over 60 for the major broadcast television networks.
The Roku Channel’s younger audience is “unreachable” via linear broadcast and cable channels, Julian Mintz, Roku’s national brand sales lead, said.
The pitch comes amid reports that the already older-skewing major broadcast networks have suddenly shot even further up years—The CW, which is the “youngest” of the top networks, reportedly has a median viewer age of 58.3 this season, up more than 6 years vs. the 2019-20 TV season.
This is a major reason why pundits, who have watched linear TV fend off OTT for advertising market share for years, despite decreases in viewership and increases in viewer age, believe the 2021 NewFront will be a breakout campaign for connected TV advertising.
As for Roku, besides pitching its superior demographics, it was largely confined on the programming end to showing off programs that it acquired in deal with shuttered streaming startup Quibi.
Also included in Roku’s presentation was This Old House, the venerable franchise for which Roku recently acquired AVOD rights.
