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State of the Screens

Can Roku Keep Rising?

By August 12, 2021November 15th, 2021No Comments

Key numbers from Roku’s earnings:
1) 1.5M
 active accounts added in Q2
2) 55.1M total active accounts
3) 117% YoY increase in advertising revenue
4) 82% YoY increase in ad revenue per hour of streaming

Dive deep: What Does Roku’s Rise Mean For Convergent TV?

Roku active accounts (YoY growth):
1) 2017-Q2 – 15.1M
2) 2018-Q2 – 22.0M (↑ 46%)
3) 2019-Q2 – 30.5M (↑ 39%)
4) 2020-Q2 – 43.0M (↑ 41%)
5) 2021-Q2 – 55.1M (↑ 28%)

Roku advertising revenue (YoY growth):
1) 2017-Q2 – $46M
2) 2018-Q2 – $90M (↑ 96%)
3) 2019-Q2 – $168M (↑ 86%)
4) 2020-Q2 – $245M (↑ 46%)
5) 2021-Q2 – $532M (↑ 117%)

Roku advertising revenue per account (YoY growth):
1) 2017-Q2 – $3.05
2) 2018-Q2 – $4.10 (↑ 35%)
3) 2019-Q2 – $5.50 (↑ 34%)
4) 2020-Q2 – $5.69 (↑ 4%)
5) 2021-Q2 – $9.66 (↑ 70%)

Roku total streaming hours (YoY growth):
1) 2017-Q2 – 3.5B
2) 2018-Q2 – 5.4B (↑ 54%)
3) 2019-Q2 – 8.8B (↑ 63%)
4) 2020-Q2 – 14.6B (↑ 66%)
5) 2021-Q2 – 17.0B (↑ 56%)

Roku streaming hours per account (YoY growth):
1) 2017-Q2 – 232
2) 2018-Q2 – 250 (↑ 8%)
3) 2019-Q2 – 308 (↑ 23%)
4) 2020-Q2 – 340 (↑ 10%)
5) 2021-Q2 – 316 (↓ 7%)

Roku advertising revenue per streaming hour (YoY growth):
1) 2017-Q2 – $0.013
2) 2018-Q2 – $0.016 (↑ 25%)
3) 2019-Q2 – $0.018 (↑ 9%)
4) 2020-Q2 – $0.017 (↓ 6%)
5) 2021-Q2 – $0.031 (↑ 82%)

Big picture: We continue to believe $0.05 per hour is attainable in the near term for any streaming service that combines targeting with measurement.  If Roku were to hit that number, then ARPU would grow to $15.79 without increasing streaming hours.

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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.

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