Inside Roku, Talk is Heating Up About an Acquisition By Netflix (businessinsider.com) 41
An anonymous reader shares a report: At Roku, a video-streaming platform operator that's suffered a punishing stock plunge, employees are buzzing about the possibility of an acquisition -- and their talk and hopes are pinned on Netflix. Employees at Roku have been discussing the possibility of a Netflix acquisition in recent weeks, according to people familiar with the matter. The chatter comes as Roku's stock has dropped about 80% since late July on weaker demand for video streaming and lower set-top-box sales.
Roku competes with Apple, Amazon, Google, and Samsung in the market for streaming devices, and some of those industry titans are battling with the smaller company for lucrative video-ad dollars. The collapse in Roku's stock made it hard to compete with its larger tech rivals on pay in a tight labor market. The result has been a staggering increase in equity grants to employees, leaving Roku well underwater on stock-based compensation. Roku has been seen as an acquisition target before -- including last year, when, according to The Wall Street Journal, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts considered purchasing the company. In January, the departure of a top Roku executive stoked questions about the company's future.
Roku competes with Apple, Amazon, Google, and Samsung in the market for streaming devices, and some of those industry titans are battling with the smaller company for lucrative video-ad dollars. The collapse in Roku's stock made it hard to compete with its larger tech rivals on pay in a tight labor market. The result has been a staggering increase in equity grants to employees, leaving Roku well underwater on stock-based compensation. Roku has been seen as an acquisition target before -- including last year, when, according to The Wall Street Journal, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts considered purchasing the company. In January, the departure of a top Roku executive stoked questions about the company's future.
Still prefer standalone boxes to smart TVs (Score:5, Insightful)
Been using Rokus for years now - I like having the brains of my TV separate from the display. I can easily move it around as needed or replace it without dumping the whole thing. And if the TV dies I've not lost my setups.
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Re:Still prefer standalone boxes to smart TVs (Score:4, Informative)
I agree strongly with you, because if the box is crap (like my Shield Tube is turning out to be) then you can just replace it. But Roku is also built into some TVs, so a Roku is not inherently a box...
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I love my Roku TV. I bought it knowing I wanted the Roku interface, but for anyone that wants a non-smart TV, a Roku TV is a great option. Just don't configure the network, and it's a very simple interface for selecting inputs. Simpler than with older dumb TVs.
If you do use a Roku TV for streaming and other inputs, you'll need to change some options to stop it from spying on what you're watching. I set up some firewall rules to block the advertising, which is probably simple enough for most people here,
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I just shoved an old Optiplex under my TV. Similar reasons to you, but with the added benefit that every service that comes out is supported from day one, because everything will always work on a Windows machine, at least for the forseeable future. It can also pull double duty as a Plex server and a network file server.
The only downside is that the UI is a little clunky for using from the couch. But that's a minor annoyance when you're just trying to watch movies with it. Once the movie starts playing, it
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Actually, no, there are plenty of services that do NOT support PC at all - browser or app. Disney+ I believe is the major one that has no PC/browser support at all.
At least officially - I'm not going to comment on alternatives.
Plus, PC streaming is generally limited to stereo and 1080p. Netflix offers 4K/HDR and Atmos, but you need to use the
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Uhhh, my son watches Disney+ on a Linux laptop via Chrome all the time.
Re: Still prefer standalone boxes to smart TVs (Score:2)
Disney+ absolutely works on Windows, and there is a windows app.
https://apps.microsoft.com/sto... [microsoft.com]
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My HTPC runs Linux Mint, and Disney+ works just fine in the Firefox browser.
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So, clearly what has happened is that my Roku has become self-aware and does not like the idea of being owned by Netflix.
Stupid imo (Score:5, Interesting)
Netflix has grown to where it was by being pretty hardware agnostic. Every smart TV supports it, every phone hell even the Nintendo Wii supported Netflix streaming eventually. What do they gain out of owning a hardware platform?
This reeks of panic to appease stockholders by "making moves" to "increase growth" when really what Netflix needs to do is hunker down, trim the fat from it's content and take some of the lessons the past few years have probably taught them, even from other providers, ie; Release tentpole series as weekly episodes instead of all at once, commit to fewer higher quality shows that you can continue instead of dropping things after one season or on cliffhangers.
Netflix still has a huge subscriber base and still a good cadre of shows people enjoy, they really just need a few quarters to get their shit together after years of having it easy.
Re:Stupid imo (Score:5, Interesting)
What do they gain out of owning a hardware platform?
Funny thing - that was the origin story of Roku. Netflix pulled out at the last minute after they developed a Netflix player.
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If Roku is undervalued, then Netflix might be smart to pick it up.
Re:Stupid imo (Score:4, Insightful)
Maybe from a pure finance point of view which to be fair is all that may matter, but they would technically be competing with their "partners" at Apple, LG, Samsung and anyone else who provides a streaming player device. Right now even though they compete on content you can get Netflix on a FireStick, does that change when now they also own a hardware platform? Maybe, maybe not.
Again, just feels like doing something for the sake of doing it.
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Right now even though they compete on content you can get Netflix on a FireStick, does that change when now they also own a hardware platform? Maybe, maybe not.
Probably not, there are enough Netflix users that it makes sense to support them so long as Netflix doesn't make it a PITA.
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At the same time, note that Netflix has been agnostic, while Amazon and Apple have not. Amazon pushes its FireStick, Apple pushes it's Apple Thing. I honestly don't know why Amazon and Apple do this, why do they need the hardware? Ie, the Apple TV languished for a long time with no development in the early days, it sucked big time until finally they realized streaming was a real thing, the FireStick really feels like a "me too" product that came to the game late and if it were not Amazon branded and funde
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I honestly don't know why Amazon and Apple do this, why do they need the hardware?
So they can show you ads promoting their own content, obviously.
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Apple does it to block other companies from following the same path they did when they locked users into their walled garden via their itunes music library.
Amazon does it to ensure apple can't lock users into their walled garden via their video library.
Netflix should do it to give them a space for proprietary subscription value adds. Netflix's biggest weakness is that their subscription only includes movies, and they either need to innovate past it, or get acquired, if they want to continue to thrive.
Re: Stupid imo (Score:2)
I have Prime and Apple TV installed on my Samsung TV. Both work fine and are hardware agnostic, except for installing Apple TV on Android devices, but you can still watch AppleTV in a browser on Android :-)
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Roku merged with an online advertising company. Roku hardware is now just a means to track and advertise. Netflix has falling numbers and needs a way to increase revenue. I think a lot of Netflix users were/are attracted by the lack of ads. Netflix is in for a shitstorm if they start in-app advertising. But if Netflix can introduce ads in a different way then they can get a lot more people to accept ads from Netflix, maybe on the pre-app screens on the Roku for example. This could be a way for Netflix t
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I didn't know that but, given how fucking terrible they became, this makes a lot of sense.
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https://www.nasdaq.com/article... [nasdaq.com]
If Roku is cheap it could make sense for Netflix.
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For one, not having to pay Roku to be one of the default shortcut buttons on the Roku remote (it ain't cheap) or paying for ads on Roku to promote their shows. For another, controlling what titles get recommended at the Roku home screen.
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Why would anyone WANT series released on a weekly episode basis?
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From a certain perspective I agree, it's better for the consumer, get all of your show at once watch when you want.
In terms of marketing though it's really become clear that the weekly model keep interest in shows alive and drives word of mouth. There really is something to the "talk about the weeks episode at the water cooler" that keeps shows growing over time.
Example happening right now is Stranger Things season 4 which has been generally well received by audiences but now that's its released, people ha
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I see your point, about water cooler talk and getting to predict what's going to happen. That makes sense to me. However, letting marketing teams choose the model however instead of customer demand is where I opt out. For some of us we are subscribed because of the binge model. I have never turned off Netflix. I can always find something random to watch on it, or a new thing (new to me but old content) that I determine is worth binging. Disney is off, and will remain so until all of a couple shows I wa
Re: Stupid imo (Score:2)
I agree with that, I like having the option but fact is Netflix's shows just aren't sticking around in the cultural stew like shows from Amazon, Disney, HBO, Paramount and such who have all moved to a weekly release. Another quarter of bad results and the pressure will be on to adapt.
Roku products are very good (Score:4, Interesting)
I have a Roku and I like it quite a lot. It works well and has a reasonable UI. If Netflix does acquire Roku, I hope they don't hobble its support for other channels... though I assume they will. :(
Re: Roku products are very good (Score:2)
I suppose once they ruin the Roku box, I'll just get something else that doesn't try to force me into a particular service.
The only way this makes sense, (Score:3)
is if they're going to try to do an "ad supported" tier for subscriptions, which they've already widely indicated they are likely going to do. [nytimes.com] Why? Because Roku already has an ad platform - from their own site, which includes identity data. [roku.com]
Also Roku lists JIF as a brand they work with, and if you've seen Stranger Things Season 4 - so does Netflix. #PeanutbutterConspiracyTheories
Competing with Amazon (Score:2)
While it's possible that this report is just a theory being put out to bump up the Roku stock price, stepping back a bit, the deal would look a bit like Amazon, which has both streaming and a hardware platform. So it's not a new model.
Oh, poor Roku... (Score:2)
After orphaning my several Soundbridge music players, it'd be A DARN SHAME if anything untoward happened to 'em.
Who's got popcorn?
Seems bad bad bad (Score:2)
But I'm still traumatized from the AT&T acquisition of DirecTV, and won't answer their calls even though it's over now.
No upside (Score:2)
Why would netflix want to get into the hardware business? In the streaming market advertising dollars are where the $$ is, not hardware sales. And netflix has all the info advertisers want already.
Please no (Score:4, Insightful)
Netflix is already in trouble (Score:1)
I made a ton of money when Netflix stock smoked in April. It lost 1/3 of it's value. Roku didn't do that on their earnings.
I think there will be more down side to netflix coming.
Together Again (Score:2)
It was not that long ago that Roku and Netflix actually shared office space on Winchester in Los Gatos. Netflix opened up their new campus on the other side of 85, and then Roku moved to Saratoga.