September 28, 2020 • 10 mins
Roku players are getting AirPlay 2 thanks to a software update. The company also unveiled a new stand alone streaming app filled with free items to watch and new players.Interview with Mark Ely, Vice President, Retail Product Strategy at Roku.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Rich Debiro here, Rich on Tech, and I've got some
new Roku news. Joining me is Mark Eally, Vice president
at Roku. Mark, thanks for joining me on the podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Thanks so much for having me. Really appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
All Right, So you've got a lot of news that
you're dropping today on the Roku platform. Let's start with
something that everyone with an iPhone basically is affected by,
and this is Airplay being added to the platform. Tell
me about that.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
We're super excited.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
We've been working with Apple for quite a while on
trying to deliver really a great iOS experience for our customers,
and so we're rolling out Airplay to support as long
actually along with Apple Home Kit to most of our
four K devices, both TVs and players, and we're really
(00:51):
excited because it's going to give our customers the ability
to take their videos, their photos, their music and play
it back on the big screen in the house.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Now is this now? I know you said airplay too,
which is kind of like their new version of airplay
that's you know, advanced. Was there airplay on the Roku
platform before in other ways?
Speaker 2 (01:09):
No, this is the first.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
Time that that we're bringing airplay support to the to
the Roku os and and it really kind of complements
the other ecosystems that we support. So it really gives
our customers just a great amount of choice in the
kind of content that they can then stream to the
big screen.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
I mean it's huge, not just for streaming, but also
if I just want to show a picture from my
phone on the TV screen, it's right there to do it.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Oh, it's awesome. I mean you can.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
I think photos are great, Music's great, it's also great.
It's just a second screen for your for your laptop,
I mean, for education. So many ways you can use it.
And it's available across you know, a wide range of
really affordable four K devices from Roku. So so we're
thrilled about it.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
Very cool. All right, let's move on to the Roku channel.
So you you have seen a lot of popularity with
the Roku channel. People love watching free stuff. It's kind
of interesting. People think of streaming in two ways. It's
like what can I get for free? And also what
do I subscribe to? But free is obviously the best.
People love free. So with the Roku Channel, you are
(02:11):
now coming out with a dedicated app that you can
get on iOS and Android. No Roku device necessary. Tell
me why you did this and what we can expect
from this app.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
Well, as you said, you know, our customers love free
and the Rookue channel has become so popular it's become
one of the really top channels on our platform, and
it's because you've got this great mix of ad supported content,
plus you can add subscription content if you want to,
and we found that that our customers want to be
able to access this everywhere, not just on their Rokue device,
(02:42):
but through their browsers and through their multile devices.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
And so by creating a.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
Dedicated app, we're really broadening the reach and appeal to
customers that maybe don't have a Rookue device but would
really benefit from that free content that you can get
through the Rokue channel.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
So we're really excited to roll the out.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
And any thing that you subscribe to Throughku you can
also get on the app as well.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
That's right exactly, So premium content that you've signed up
for on a Rokue device or through our browser experience
you can access on the app. And that just kind
of creates a really rich experience for our customers.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
And do people I mean I mentioned that people love free.
But I mean, are you seeing on your end that
the roku channel is just continuing to grow?
Speaker 3 (03:26):
Oh, it's huge, it's I mean, we've got tens of
millions of people out there that are watching the Rokue
channel on a regular basis. It's become one of the
top channels on our platform. And it's because it's not
only is it free content, but it's great free content.
And we also have kids and family related content. There's
stuff that pretty much appeals to everyone.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
Let's talk about some of the new devices. So you
have I'm counting my notes here, one, two, three, four, five,
at least five devices, six devices, seven devices at this point?
Am I right on that? Or is there more?
Speaker 2 (04:03):
Well?
Speaker 1 (04:03):
Not including the newest one we're going to talk about.
So you have about eight devices to choose from.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
We have a range of devices, and the reason we
do is that we want to make streaming accessible to
the broadest range of folks, from people that are first
time streamers that just want to try it out for
the first time to people that are really dedicated to
it and want all the bells and whistles, and so
we try to hit all of these different price points
in between and really deliver a set of streaming platform
(04:30):
streaming devices that really create a great streaming experience for everyone.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
So for the streamers, they range from thirty dollars to
one hundred dollars. And let's talk about the newest Roku Ultra.
This is ninety nine ninety nine and this is your
flagship device. I mean, this is for the person who
wants everything that Roku has to offer in their top
of the line device, new processor, new form factor, better wireless.
(04:55):
Tell me about the importance of wireless when it comes
to a streaming device.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
Well, you said, I mean, it's so important, and it's
because of course you're streaming more. You know, people want
to stream high resolution, high quality content four K content.
In the case of Roku Ultra, you can now stream
Gulby Vision content. It's you want to get that to
you know, the best, you know screens in your house,
wherever they may be, and it might be really far
from your router. So having a really really great wireless
(05:23):
performance means you're going to have a great picture no
matter where that device is set up in your home.
And it's also important to remember even if you don't
have a really large house, you might have a lot
of wireless interference. So many of us are on our
computers all day, you know, doing zoom calls and other things.
There's lots of lots of video moving back and forth.
There's phones, there's devices, and having really high quality you know,
(05:45):
radio system built into the Roku Ultra means that you're
really getting the best possible streaming wherever you put it,
and and that just a better experience.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
And on the back of the device, you've got USB
three point zero for the first time.
Speaker 3 (05:59):
We've had USB two in the past. We've upgraded it
in the new versions of USB three point zero. It's
a great way for folks that have their own video
libraries or photo libraries on memory sticks or USB hard drives.
You can plug them in and access it through our
media player, and just another way to get content into
your Rokue device and then pick up on the big screen.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
And another first, you're throwing Bluetooth, sorry, Bluetooth into the
mix on this device for what reason? What can I
do with the Bluetooth on the Roku Ultra.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
Well, what you can do is it's designed for pairing
for your phone to the Roki Ultra, so you can
stream audio stream music, music content from your phone to
the device and then play it back through whatever the
av system is that you've connected your Ultra to. And
we just wanted to give our customers just the broadest
range of different sources that they could choose from, whether
it's four KHDR content, Dolby Vision content, Bluetooth content from
(06:54):
their phone, you know, whatever it is, airplay content. You
can get all of that onto the Ultra and then
displayed on your favorite TV.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
So you basically, Roku likes to give folks options. That's it.
I've always called you the sort of the Switzerland of
streaming because it's just whatever, however you want to do it,
whatever you want to watch, it's generally available on Roku.
It's very flexible as a viewing platform, it is.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
I mean, that's you know, for us, we've always believe
that that you know, this is the streaming decade.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Streaming is just going. It's just incredible.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
So many people are cutting the cord, they're moving over
to streaming, and we want to make sure that it's
super easy for anyone to get get on board, get
a product set up, be up and running and streaming
their favorite shows and do that to the widest possible
audience and that's really informed all of the different products
that we built out.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
Another new product you're coming out with is the Roku
stream Bar, and this is kind of a soundbar that
has Roku built into it. Explain what the advantage is there.
Speaker 3 (07:56):
So we launched our Roku Smart Soundbar last year and
it was a soundbar with a player built into it,
so you've got the full OS experience built in. And
our idea was to put these two things together to
create a really great experience for our customers. And what
we found was that people loved it. I mean, they
absolutely love having great sound, and so we thought, well, gee,
how can we bring this great sound and great streaming
(08:18):
together but reach a broader audience and maybe folks that
have never thought about a soundbar before.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
So this new stream bar is a whole new idea.
It's really a.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
Super compact soundbar and streamer together and it's designed to
go under pretty much any TV. It's only fourteen inches wide,
it's less than two and a half inches high, and
it's got these incredible high performance drivers in there that
really pump out a lot of great sound. And it
was a really clever signal processing in our rooku os,
we were able to steer that sound even wider, so
(08:49):
it sounds much bigger than it looks. And I think
when people hear it, they're going to be really impressed.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
And how important is sound in your research and just
you know, in general as someone watching TV. I mean,
these these thin TVs, they're not known for their speakers.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
That's it.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
And it's amazing if you think about where we are now.
You know, the movie theater is really in our living
rooms now, We're spending so much time watching content at home.
But those TV sets that are out there really were
never designed for great sound. They're designed for great picture.
So when you bring a great set of speakers, if
you can bring a soundbar, stream bar into your environment,
it's like going from black and white to color.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
It just really makes it so much richer.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
Not only can you hear the dialogue much better, but
you're really you know, enveloped more in the experience. And
in fact, people have told us that, you know, the
actual video looks better just by adding better sound. So
it's it's one of those incredible things that really enriches
the whole streaming experience.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
When can we expect to see these new features and products.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
So we're really exciting to be rolling out OS nine
to four. It'll be rolling out through through the fall
quarter here through the end of the year. To our devices,
the Roku Ultra and the Roku stream Bar are both
going to be on the shelf in mid October and
we can't wait for folks to get their hands on them.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
And Mark, what are you streaming these days? Anything interesting?
Are you done? By the time you get out of work,
You're like, no more streaming for me.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
I gotta tell you, I'm running through Shit's creek right now.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
It's so much fun and I'm really enjoying that.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
That's the end of the day wind.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
Down, and that just it's funny. When I lived in
New York City, this was many I mean I'm talking
I think it was ten years ago or something. They
had those advertisements all over them. That show has been
around for a while, but it seems like people are
just discovering it.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
Exactly and they just discovered it. And that's a fun
wind down for me.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
All right. Mark Eally, Vice President of Retail Product Strategy
at Roku, thanks so much for joining me today. I
appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
Thank you really appreciate it all right.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
You're listening to the Rich on Tech podcast. Be sure
to rate and review the show, and if you like
interviews like this, let me know. Thanks for listening.
Rich Debiro here, Rich on Tech, and I've got some
new Roku news. Joining me is Mark Eally, Vice president
at Roku. Mark, thanks for joining me on the podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Thanks so much for having me. Really appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
All Right, So you've got a lot of news that
you're dropping today on the Roku platform. Let's start with
something that everyone with an iPhone basically is affected by,
and this is Airplay being added to the platform. Tell
me about that.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
We're super excited.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
We've been working with Apple for quite a while on
trying to deliver really a great iOS experience for our customers,
and so we're rolling out Airplay to support as long
actually along with Apple Home Kit to most of our
four K devices, both TVs and players, and we're really
(00:51):
excited because it's going to give our customers the ability
to take their videos, their photos, their music and play
it back on the big screen in the house.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Now is this now? I know you said airplay too,
which is kind of like their new version of airplay
that's you know, advanced. Was there airplay on the Roku
platform before in other ways?
Speaker 2 (01:09):
No, this is the first.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
Time that that we're bringing airplay support to the to
the Roku os and and it really kind of complements
the other ecosystems that we support. So it really gives
our customers just a great amount of choice in the
kind of content that they can then stream to the
big screen.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
I mean it's huge, not just for streaming, but also
if I just want to show a picture from my
phone on the TV screen, it's right there to do it.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Oh, it's awesome. I mean you can.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
I think photos are great, Music's great, it's also great.
It's just a second screen for your for your laptop,
I mean, for education. So many ways you can use it.
And it's available across you know, a wide range of
really affordable four K devices from Roku. So so we're
thrilled about it.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
Very cool. All right, let's move on to the Roku channel.
So you you have seen a lot of popularity with
the Roku channel. People love watching free stuff. It's kind
of interesting. People think of streaming in two ways. It's
like what can I get for free? And also what
do I subscribe to? But free is obviously the best.
People love free. So with the Roku Channel, you are
(02:11):
now coming out with a dedicated app that you can
get on iOS and Android. No Roku device necessary. Tell
me why you did this and what we can expect
from this app.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
Well, as you said, you know, our customers love free
and the Rookue channel has become so popular it's become
one of the really top channels on our platform, and
it's because you've got this great mix of ad supported content,
plus you can add subscription content if you want to,
and we found that that our customers want to be
able to access this everywhere, not just on their Rokue device,
(02:42):
but through their browsers and through their multile devices.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
And so by creating a.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
Dedicated app, we're really broadening the reach and appeal to
customers that maybe don't have a Rookue device but would
really benefit from that free content that you can get
through the Rokue channel.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
So we're really excited to roll the out.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
And any thing that you subscribe to Throughku you can
also get on the app as well.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
That's right exactly, So premium content that you've signed up
for on a Rokue device or through our browser experience
you can access on the app. And that just kind
of creates a really rich experience for our customers.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
And do people I mean I mentioned that people love free.
But I mean, are you seeing on your end that
the roku channel is just continuing to grow?
Speaker 3 (03:26):
Oh, it's huge, it's I mean, we've got tens of
millions of people out there that are watching the Rokue
channel on a regular basis. It's become one of the
top channels on our platform. And it's because it's not
only is it free content, but it's great free content.
And we also have kids and family related content. There's
stuff that pretty much appeals to everyone.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
Let's talk about some of the new devices. So you
have I'm counting my notes here, one, two, three, four, five,
at least five devices, six devices, seven devices at this point?
Am I right on that? Or is there more?
Speaker 2 (04:03):
Well?
Speaker 1 (04:03):
Not including the newest one we're going to talk about.
So you have about eight devices to choose from.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
We have a range of devices, and the reason we
do is that we want to make streaming accessible to
the broadest range of folks, from people that are first
time streamers that just want to try it out for
the first time to people that are really dedicated to
it and want all the bells and whistles, and so
we try to hit all of these different price points
in between and really deliver a set of streaming platform
(04:30):
streaming devices that really create a great streaming experience for everyone.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
So for the streamers, they range from thirty dollars to
one hundred dollars. And let's talk about the newest Roku Ultra.
This is ninety nine ninety nine and this is your
flagship device. I mean, this is for the person who
wants everything that Roku has to offer in their top
of the line device, new processor, new form factor, better wireless.
(04:55):
Tell me about the importance of wireless when it comes
to a streaming device.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
Well, you said, I mean, it's so important, and it's
because of course you're streaming more. You know, people want
to stream high resolution, high quality content four K content.
In the case of Roku Ultra, you can now stream
Gulby Vision content. It's you want to get that to
you know, the best, you know screens in your house,
wherever they may be, and it might be really far
from your router. So having a really really great wireless
(05:23):
performance means you're going to have a great picture no
matter where that device is set up in your home.
And it's also important to remember even if you don't
have a really large house, you might have a lot
of wireless interference. So many of us are on our
computers all day, you know, doing zoom calls and other things.
There's lots of lots of video moving back and forth.
There's phones, there's devices, and having really high quality you know,
(05:45):
radio system built into the Roku Ultra means that you're
really getting the best possible streaming wherever you put it,
and and that just a better experience.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
And on the back of the device, you've got USB
three point zero for the first time.
Speaker 3 (05:59):
We've had USB two in the past. We've upgraded it
in the new versions of USB three point zero. It's
a great way for folks that have their own video
libraries or photo libraries on memory sticks or USB hard drives.
You can plug them in and access it through our
media player, and just another way to get content into
your Rokue device and then pick up on the big screen.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
And another first, you're throwing Bluetooth, sorry, Bluetooth into the
mix on this device for what reason? What can I
do with the Bluetooth on the Roku Ultra.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
Well, what you can do is it's designed for pairing
for your phone to the Roki Ultra, so you can
stream audio stream music, music content from your phone to
the device and then play it back through whatever the
av system is that you've connected your Ultra to. And
we just wanted to give our customers just the broadest
range of different sources that they could choose from, whether
it's four KHDR content, Dolby Vision content, Bluetooth content from
(06:54):
their phone, you know, whatever it is, airplay content. You
can get all of that onto the Ultra and then
displayed on your favorite TV.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
So you basically, Roku likes to give folks options. That's it.
I've always called you the sort of the Switzerland of
streaming because it's just whatever, however you want to do it,
whatever you want to watch, it's generally available on Roku.
It's very flexible as a viewing platform, it is.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
I mean, that's you know, for us, we've always believe
that that you know, this is the streaming decade.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Streaming is just going. It's just incredible.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
So many people are cutting the cord, they're moving over
to streaming, and we want to make sure that it's
super easy for anyone to get get on board, get
a product set up, be up and running and streaming
their favorite shows and do that to the widest possible
audience and that's really informed all of the different products
that we built out.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
Another new product you're coming out with is the Roku
stream Bar, and this is kind of a soundbar that
has Roku built into it. Explain what the advantage is there.
Speaker 3 (07:56):
So we launched our Roku Smart Soundbar last year and
it was a soundbar with a player built into it,
so you've got the full OS experience built in. And
our idea was to put these two things together to
create a really great experience for our customers. And what
we found was that people loved it. I mean, they
absolutely love having great sound, and so we thought, well, gee,
how can we bring this great sound and great streaming
(08:18):
together but reach a broader audience and maybe folks that
have never thought about a soundbar before.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
So this new stream bar is a whole new idea.
It's really a.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
Super compact soundbar and streamer together and it's designed to
go under pretty much any TV. It's only fourteen inches wide,
it's less than two and a half inches high, and
it's got these incredible high performance drivers in there that
really pump out a lot of great sound. And it
was a really clever signal processing in our rooku os,
we were able to steer that sound even wider, so
(08:49):
it sounds much bigger than it looks. And I think
when people hear it, they're going to be really impressed.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
And how important is sound in your research and just
you know, in general as someone watching TV. I mean,
these these thin TVs, they're not known for their speakers.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
That's it.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
And it's amazing if you think about where we are now.
You know, the movie theater is really in our living
rooms now, We're spending so much time watching content at home.
But those TV sets that are out there really were
never designed for great sound. They're designed for great picture.
So when you bring a great set of speakers, if
you can bring a soundbar, stream bar into your environment,
it's like going from black and white to color.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
It just really makes it so much richer.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
Not only can you hear the dialogue much better, but
you're really you know, enveloped more in the experience. And
in fact, people have told us that, you know, the
actual video looks better just by adding better sound. So
it's it's one of those incredible things that really enriches
the whole streaming experience.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
When can we expect to see these new features and products.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
So we're really exciting to be rolling out OS nine
to four. It'll be rolling out through through the fall
quarter here through the end of the year. To our devices,
the Roku Ultra and the Roku stream Bar are both
going to be on the shelf in mid October and
we can't wait for folks to get their hands on them.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
And Mark, what are you streaming these days? Anything interesting?
Are you done? By the time you get out of work,
You're like, no more streaming for me.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
I gotta tell you, I'm running through Shit's creek right now.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
It's so much fun and I'm really enjoying that.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
That's the end of the day wind.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
Down, and that just it's funny. When I lived in
New York City, this was many I mean I'm talking
I think it was ten years ago or something. They
had those advertisements all over them. That show has been
around for a while, but it seems like people are
just discovering it.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
Exactly and they just discovered it. And that's a fun
wind down for me.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
All right. Mark Eally, Vice President of Retail Product Strategy
at Roku, thanks so much for joining me today. I
appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
Thank you really appreciate it all right.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
You're listening to the Rich on Tech podcast. Be sure
to rate and review the show, and if you like
interviews like this, let me know. Thanks for listening.
Host
Rich DeMuro
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