Roku introduces Direct Publisher
October 6, 2016
Streaming device specialist Roku has revealed a major update to the Roku Publishing Platform allowing content owners to quickly reach its 10 million + households. Content owners can now use a new solution called Roku Direct Publisher to launch streaming channels without entering a single line of code. With a few simple steps, including providing a feed, content owners can publish and automatically participate in search and discovery experiences in regions where available on Roku devices.
Newly released channels built with Roku Direct Publisher include Mashable, Rolling Stone and Us Weekly among others, all of which can be found in the Roku Channel Store. Roku Direct Publisher is also supported by top third-party OVPs, including Brightcove, JW Player, Kaltura and Ooyala.
“Building streaming applications typically involves significant time, development resources and costs in order for publishers to reach and engage TV viewers effectively. With the launch of Roku Direct Publisher, we are empowering content owners to be able to get on the Roku platform quickly, develop an audience and drive monetisation,” said Bill Shapiro, director of product management for the Roku OS. “It’s a great solution for content owners and will also result in a lot of new and interesting channels for viewers.”
Roku’s unbiased search, which already includes more than 100 channels in the US, is now open to all content publishers on the Roku Platform. Content owners who use Roku Direct Publisher will have their content automatically included in Roku Search and My Feed in regions where available.
The Roku Publishing Platform now also includes performance dashboards for each channel that provide the content owner with detailed metrics, such as the streaming minutes for the channel, number of installs, uninstalls and more. Content owners who use Roku Direct Publisher will also have access to metrics on individual video performance.
The Roku Publishing Platform is open to content owners and developers from around the world. Roku Direct Publisher is available now at developer.roku.com/publish along with the Roku SDK and XML programming framework for developing customised channels.