Roku has posted positive Q4 and full-year 2023 results, and attributes them to an increase in consumer demand for AVOD services.
The company reached 80 million active accounts in 2023, which is a 14% year-over-year increase, according to its financial report. Viewer engagement on the platform also grew: it streamed more than 106 billion hours last year, with an average of 4.1 hours per day per account in Q4. That represents a year-over-year increase of 18.6 billion hours.
The platform’s net revenues also rose. It made US$2.9 billion in 2023, a 10% increase year-over-year. Its full-year sales and marketing revenue totaled $1 billion, up from US$838 million in 2022.
Revenue from direct and programmatic video advertising increased, as did sponsorships and other connected advertising products and services, according to the company. Part of this was due to its collaboration with retail companies such as Instacart and DoorDash, which allows CPG marketers to track whether their ads in the streamer drive sales on the grocery delivery platforms.
It also expanded its platform’s OS reach through new licensing agreements with more than 30 partners, and enhanced the user experience by introducing new features and discovery tools.
“The results translate into unique opportunities for advertisers to reach larger audiences, with richer first party targeting and creative ad products throughout their viewing experience,” Roku Canada head of ad sales Christina Summers tells MiC.
She adds that the company will continue to invest in enhancing user engagement as consumers are migrating to streaming more than ever before. Its fourth annual VOD Evolution 2024 study found that 75% of Canadian adult are streaming TV users who accessed at least one streaming service between December and January.
Looking ahead, Summers predicts that AVOD services will become more popular, with 63% of streaming TV users planning to use them this year. “They give them the same level of choice and quality of content, but without the same price that goes with it when you must subscribe to services.”
FAST channels are also “popping up as a growing subset of AVOD channels and services,” according to Summers. “In the last year, 14% of streaming TV consumers started using a free AVOD service for the first time while more than 41% watch every month.”
