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State of the Screens

Roku Keeps Riding The Streaming Wave

By November 12, 2020No Comments

Key numbers from Roku’s earnings:
1) 3.0M
 active accounts added in Q3
2) 46.0M total active accounts
3) 25% YoY increase in advertising revenue
4) 54% YoY increase in streaming hours

Quote from Mark Zgutowicz – Analyst @ Rosenblatt Securities:
“We’re in a new world here.  What you’re seeing Roku become is more than just an aggregation platform. They look closer to a gatekeeper, like cable TV companies used to be.”

Big news: The Roku Channel reached 54M people in Q3, and that should grow further now that it is now available on Amazon’s Fire TV.

Roku active accounts (YoY growth):
1) 2016-Q3 – 11.3M
2) 2017-Q3 – 16.7M (↑ 48%)
3) 2018-Q3 – 23.8M (↑ 43%)
4) 2019-Q3 – 32.3M (↑ 36%)
5) 2020-Q3 – 46.0M (↑ 42%)

Roku advertising revenue (YoY growth):
1) 2016-Q3 – $22M
2) 2017-Q3 – $58M (↑ 158%)
3) 2018-Q3 – $100M (↑ 74%)
4) 2019-Q3 – $179M (↑ 79%)
5) 2020-Q3 – $319M (↑ 78%)

Roku advertising revenue per account (YoY growth):
1) 2016-Q3 – $1.97
2) 2017-Q3 – $3.44 (↑ 75%)
3) 2018-Q3 – $4.21 (↑ 22%)
4) 2019-Q3 – $5.55 (↑ 32%)
5) 2020-Q3 – $6.94 (↑ 25%)

Roku streaming hours per account (YoY growth):
1) 2016-Q3 – 212
2) 2017-Q3 – 287 (↑ 35%)
3) 2018-Q3 – 261 (↓ 9%)
4) 2019-Q3 – 319 (↑ 22%)
5) 2020-Q3 – 322 (↑ 1%)

Roku advertising revenue per streaming hour (YoY growth):
1) 2016-Q3 – $0.009
2) 2017-Q3 – $0.012 (↑ 29%)
3) 2018-Q3 – $0.016 (↑ 35%)
4) 2019-Q3 – $0.017 (↑ 8%)
5) 2020-Q3 – $0.022 (↑ 24%)

More #1: Streaming, Product-Channel Fit, and Roku

More #2: Deeper Dive—Roku poised for long-term benefits from Peacock deal

Michael Beach

Michael Beach is the Chief Executive Officer of Cross Screen Media, a media analytics and software company that enables marketers to plan, activate, and measure CTV and linear TV at the local level. Michael is also the founder and editor of State of the Screens, a weekly newsletter focused on video advertising that is a must-read for thought leaders in the advertising industry. He has appeared in such publications as PBS Frontline, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Axios, CNBC and Bloomberg, and on NPR’s Planet Money podcast.