There are a lot of streaming services out there and while there may be similarities, there are also a lot of different content on each. You’ve probably wished there was one platform that will let you subscribe to various services without the hassle of having to sign up for every one of them. Several brands are now trying to offer a solution for this “problem” and Roku is the latest one to join the fray by allowing “premium” subscriptions to their Roku Channel.
Basically, the Premium Subscription feature on the Roku Channel will let you add 25+ streaming service partners so you don’t have to sign up for each of them individually. You only have to sign in to your Roku account, choose which service you want to subscribe to, and everything will just be under one bill. Plus, they will be able to sign up for a 7-day free trial for these partners and you’ll get a reminder once the trial is almost over so you can decide whether to continue your now paid subscription.
Their Premium Subscription partners include Showtime, Starz, The Great Courses, Tastemade, etc. Noticeably absent are some of the most popular ones like Netflix, HBO, Hulu, etc. No word yet if they will be adding more, but if they really want this to take off, then they should. Aside from these services, you still get access to more than a thousand free ad-supported video content on The Roku Channel, so there’s that.
The other good news is that the Roku mobile app will now let you watch stuff from the Roku Channel and even continue where you left off from whatever device you were previously watching. The search feature within the Roku Channel has also been expanded with the addition of these content partners.
The updated search and the Premium Subscription will start rolling out in late January to select Roku devices and then will roll out in phases for early 2019. The updated Roku mobile app will also start its roll out later this month.
SOURCE: Roku
