Roku launches Howdy SVoD service
August 5, 2025
By Nik Roseveare
Roku, the TV streaming specialist, has announced the launch of Howdy in the US, a new SVoD service priced at $2.99 (€2.59) per month.
Howdy offers subscribers access to a growing library of content, featuring thousands of titles and nearly 10,000 hours of entertainment from its inaugural partners: Lionsgate, Warner Bros Discovery and FilmRise, alongside select Roku Original titles. Subscribers can watch award-winning favourites including Mad Max: Fury Road, The Blind Side, Weeds and Kids in the Hall, as well as popular rom-coms, medical dramas, ‘90s comedy, feel-good classics and more.
“Priced at less than a cup of coffee, Howdy is ad-free and designed to complement, not compete with, premium services,” commented Roku founder and CEO Anthony Wood. “We’re meeting a real need for consumers who want to unwind with their favorite movies and shows uninterrupted and on their terms. Howdy is a natural step for us at Roku, extending our mission to make better TV for everyone, by making it affordable, accessible, and built for how people watch today.”
“We’re excited to continue our longstanding collaboration with Roku on innovative ways to connect with audiences,” said Jim Packer, President of Worldwide Television Distribution, Lionsgate. “With engagement of over 125 million people a day, Roku is the perfect partner to launch a more accessible complement to the higher-priced SVoDs. This service has the ability to scale quickly while providing us with a new way to monetise our content, and we’re proud to be part of this new streaming experience.”
“With the launch of Howdy, Roku is making beloved content from our catalogue accessible to an even bigger audience,” added Johnny Holden, Chief Revenue and Strategy Officer at Radial Entertainment, the parent company of FilmRise.
From August 5th to August 31st, visitors to Times Square will be greeted with a warm ‘howdy’ through a branded takeover of digital billboards promoting the service and its notable launch titles.
Roku said the launch of Howdy marks “a continuation of its strategy to grow platform monetisation and expand both third- and first-party subscriptions using the power of its platform, which reaches US households with more than 125 million people each day”.
In addition to Howdy, Roku’s streaming services include the popular Roku Channel, the most-watched FAST service in the US, and Frndly TV, the #2 live TV subscription streaming service among cord cutters.
Howdy will be available initially on the Roku platform with rollout on mobile and additional platforms planned in the near future.
Reacting to the news, Vikrant Mathur, Co-Founder of Future Today, said: “Roku has long served as a central hub for both SVoD and AVoD streaming, 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.”
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