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State of the Screens

Why Roku’s Earnings are Giving Investors Pause

By May 5, 2023No Comments

Four big questions re: Roku
1) How many accounts does Roku have?
2) How does Roku make money?
3) How much money does Roku make from each subscriber?
4) How much time do Roku accounts spend streaming?

Big question #1: How many accounts does Roku have?

Roku active accounts (YoY growth):
1) 2017-Q1 – 14.2M
2) 2018-Q1 – 20.8M (↑ 46%)
3) 2019-Q1 – 29.1M (↑ 40%)
4) 2020-Q1 – 39.8M (↑ 37%)
5) 2021-Q1 – 53.6M (↑ 35%)
6) 2022-Q1 – 61.3M (↑ 14%)
7) 2023-Q1 – 71.6M (↑ 17%)

Big question #2: How does Roku make money?

Quick answer: 86% of Roku’s Q1 revenue came from its platform (mostly advertising) business.

Roku advertising revenue (YoY growth):
1) 2017-Q1 – $36M
2) 2018-Q1 – $75M (↑ 106%)
3) 2019-Q1 – $134M (↑ 79%)
4) 2020-Q1 – $233M (↑ 73%)
5) 2021-Q1 – $467M (↑ 101%)
6) 2022-Q1 – $647M (↑ 39%)
7) 2023-Q1 – $635M ( 39%)

Big question #3: How much money does Roku make from each subscriber?

Roku quarterly advertising revenue per account (YoY growth):
1) 2017-Q1 – $2.56
2) 2018-Q1 – $3.61 (↑ 41%)
3) 2019-Q1 – $4.61 (↑ 28%)
4) 2020-Q1 – $5.84 (↑ 27%)
5) 2021-Q1 – $8.70 (↑ 49%)
6) 2022-Q2 – $10.55 (↑ 21%)
7) 2023-Q2 – $8.86 ( 16%)

Big question #4: How much time do Roku accounts spend streaming?

Roku total streaming hours (YoY growth):
1) 2017-Q1 – 3.3B
2) 2018-Q1 – 5.5B (↑ 67%)
3) 2019-Q1 – 8.9B (↑ 62%)
4) 2020-Q1 – 13.2B (↑ 48%)
5) 2021-Q1 – 18.3B (↑ 49%)
6) 2022-Q1 – 20.9B (↑ 14%)
7) 2023-Q1 – 25.1B (↑ 20%)

Roku advertising revenue per streaming hour (YoY growth):
1) 2017-Q1 – $0.011
2) 2018-Q1 – $0.014 (↑ 24%)
3) 2019-Q1 – $0.015 (↑ 10%)
4) 2020-Q1 – $0.018 (↑ 17%)
5) 2021-Q1 – $0.025 (↑ 45%)
6) 2022-Q1 – $0.031 (↑ 21%)
7) 2023-Q1 – $0.025 ( 18%)

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.