Roku just announced Howdy, a new streaming service that's the company's latest foray into the streaming landscape.
The service will cost $2.99 a month and is a subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) streaming service, a la Netflix or HBO Max. It aims to offer "ad-free, high-quality entertainment" for "less than a cup of coffee," as Roku founder and CEO Anthony Wood put it in today's announcement.
But that wasn't all Wood had to say. "Howdy is ad-free," he continued, "and designed to complement, not compete with, premium services.”
After reading through the press release, I agree with Wood — this can't compete with premium services. However, I'm still scratching my head because I'm not sure it can compete with free streaming services either.
Howdy seems to just be The Roku Channel without ads
Currently, there are two types of streaming services focused on delivering you thousands of hours of shows and movies.
First, there are services like Netflix and HBO Max, which charge anywhere from $7 to $20+ a month and offer original shows and movies, live sports and deep libraries of content.
Then there are free streaming services like Tubi and Pluto TV, which offer deep libraries of shows and movies for free, but instead of charging you a monthly subscription, they make you watch ads.
Howdy appears to sit somewhere in the middle. It charges you money, like Netflix, but it doesn't offer the same variety of content. It offers older, licensed content from partners like Lionsgate, Warner Bros. Discovery and FilmRise, such as “Mad Max: Fury Road,” “The Blind Side,” “Weeds” and “Kids in the Hall.” There's also mention of some Roku Original titles, which largely consist of reality and unscripted programming.
That content mix is on par with what you get with a free streaming service. In fact, Roku already offers a free streaming service that offers most (if not all) of this content: The Roku Channel.
As far as I can tell, that makes Howdy just The Roku Channel without ads, which begs the question: Who would pay $3 a month to remove ads from The Roku Channel?
The answer I keep coming back to is, nobody. I can't think of anyone who would do this.
However ...
Amazon does offer similar tiers for its Prime Video streaming service. While you can subscribe to Prime Video a la carte, most people get it included with their Amazon Prime subscription.
So, for this argument, let's say it's "free." But it comes with ads. If you want to remove ads, there's a $2.99 fee you can pay to remove ads.
Maybe this is Roku's calculus. People do pay to remove ads on Prime Video. Lots of people. So maybe Roku thinks $2.99 is the magic number people will pay to remove ads.
If that is the streaming company's calculus, though, I think they've made a grave error. Prime Video offers movies fresh out of theaters, original shows, etc. Think "Reacher" and "The Summer I Turned Pretty." Prime Video is one of those "premium services” that Wood says Howdy is designed to complement, rather than compete with. It's precisely those premium offerings that convince people to pay to remove ads.
I'm not alone in being concerned about the business model either. Vikrant Mathur, Co-Founder of advertising streaming platform Future Today also has concerns.
“Roku has long served as a central hub for both SVOD and AVOD streaming," Vikrant told Tom's Guide, "cementing its position as one of the most influential CTV platforms in the market. As streaming costs continue to rise, an affordable, ad-free tier like Howdy can potentially offer a compelling alternative for budget-conscious viewers. That said, the service needs to offer clear value; simply repackaging content that is available in ad-supported environments won't cut it. The strength and exclusivity of the content offering while keeping the price point low will ultimately determine success.”
Again, the issue here is does Howdy provide subscribers with "clear value." At present, there's nothing I've seen that should convince people to say hello to Howdy and add it to their streaming services budget. I certainly won't be paying for it.
Malcolm has been with Tom's Guide since 2022, and has been covering the latest in streaming shows and movies since 2023. He's not one to shy away from a hot take, including that "John Wick" is one of the four greatest films ever made.
Here's what he's been watching lately:
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