Roku, the maker of some of the most popular add-on media streamers for accessing more than 5,000 streaming channels, is offering free content and a $10 discount on its popular Roku players in celebration of National Streaming Day on May 20th.
Kicking off the week leading up to the special day, anyone interested in adding so-called “smart TV” functionality to an unconnected television or a smart TV that might lack some popular services, can purchase one of several Roku set-tops or a USB streaming stick for a special savings as well as get access to free content available to Roku customers.
In celebration of the event, Roku released the findings of a recent study of streaming viewer uses and preferences, including data from Nielsen showing the average American spends 30.55 hours a week watching television, and that streaming continues to soar as Roku users streamed more than 3 billion hours of video and music in the first quarter of 2017 alone, up from more than 9 billion throughout 2016.
Read more on Roku’s promotion and streaming video user data after the jump:
Through the offer, purchasers will get $10 off the [amazon_textlink asin=’B01DA0YCNC’ text=’Roku Streaming Stick ‘ template=’ProductLink’ store=’hc005-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’23bd8161-3978-11e7-86e9-4d0febfbd0b9′]($49.99 suggested retail), [amazon_textlink asin=’B01LWVSFZ8′ text=’Roku Premiere ‘ template=’ProductLink’ store=’hc005-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’e7de3423-3977-11e7-8361-2561fb43ec40′]($79.99 suggested retail), [amazon_textlink asin=’B01LXUZPQU’ text=’Roku Premiere+’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’hc005-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’fb1861dd-3977-11e7-bfcc-95f37aef31a7′] ($99.99 suggested retail) and [amazon_textlink asin=’B01M05030B’ text=’Roku Ultra’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’hc005-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’12524692-3978-11e7-a20d-632cd7da16e2′] ($129.99 suggested retail). The offer is available at authorized retail partners as well as through www.Roku.com. The promotional period will run through midnight Pacific Time on May 20th, Roku said.
For content, Roku worked with its streaming partners to make content available in the Roku Recommends channel on current-generation Roku devices during the promotion period. As part of the offer Roku viewers will have access to Showtime’s Twin Peaks, Season 1; select episodes from Riverdale from The CW; three documentaries from Smithsonian Earth; and select shows from FOX Now
Roku said its survey was conducted this spring to understand how consumers make streaming decisions, as well as to find the most influential factors in a viewer’s process of deciding what to watch.
Roku said television shows are more commonly recommended than travel tips and restaurants: with respondents saying they are more apt to recommend a TV show (29 percent) or movie (25 percent) than a restaurant (16 percent) or travel destination (7 percent).
Consumers rated “How You Doin?” as the No. 1 favorite TV quote, with 20 percent of respondents selecting the popular Friends quote two decades since it originally aired. Nostalgia continued to dominate with “D’oh!” from The Simpsons (12 percent) and “No soup for you!” from Seinfeld (12 percent), ranking second and third, respectively, Roku found.
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Among the top movie quotes, “May the force be with you” ranks No. 1 with 17 percent selecting the Star Wars greeting followed by “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn” from Gone with the Wind (11 percent) and “Go ahead, make my day” from Sudden Impact (11 percent).
The study showed people value time alone with 37 percent of respondents indicating that watching a movie or TV show alone was valuable “me time.” Other reasons for watching alone included needing to focus on a TV show or movie (27 percent), embracing the guilty pleasure of a TV show or movie (13 percent), or because the content was often inappropriate for kids (5 percent).
Respondents said they trusted the movie or TV recommendations of friends ahead of spouses or significant others for movie and TV recommendations with 44 percent of U.S. respondents saying the trusted friends highest and only 19 percent saying they trusted the recommendations of their partners or significant others the most.
Some 60 percent of respondents looked to those with a similar sense of humor versus 31 percent with the same political and economic social views, 18 percent of the same gender or 17 percent from the same town.
Sixty percent of respondents also said commercials suggesting television content influenced what they watch. Facebook posts were next, with 43 percent followed by Twitter (20 percent) and Snapchat (13 percent). Among millennials (aged 18-34) 59 percent said they were influenced to watching programs by commercials, followed by Facebook (56 percent), Twitter (29 percent) and Snapchat (24 percent).
“Americans seem to be viewing more content than ever before,” said Abby Reyes, streaming expert at Roku. “Before the advent of streaming, viewing decisions were limited more by scheduling, locality and familiarity. Now, we trade recommendations with a vastly wider circle to help us find what to watch. Although we love our spouses, we’re not always in love with what they want to watch. Instead, we may look to those who have a similar sense of humor to help us choose our next movie or TV show.”
In conducting the study, Roku said it commissioned research firm Macro, Inc., which used a Cint panel from April 24 to May 1 among a cross section of 1,068 adults aged 18-65 in the United States.
By Greg Tarr
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