Roku Pacts with Lionsgate, WBD & FilmRise for Ad-Free SVOD Service

Roku has teamed with Lionsgate, Warner Bros. Discovery and FilmRise to launch Howdy, an ad-free SVOD service available for just $2.99 a month in the U.S.

Launching today, the service will deliver almost 10,000 hours of content from Lionsgate, Warner Bros. Discovery and FilmRise, alongside select Roku originals. The lineup includes Mad Max: Fury Road, The Blind Side, Weeds and Kids in the Hall.

“Priced at less than a cup of coffee, Howdy is ad-free and designed to complement, not compete with, premium services,” said Anthony Wood, founder and CEO of Roku. “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 at 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 monetize 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 catalog accessible to an even bigger audience,” said Johnny Holden, chief revenue and strategy officer at Radial Entertainment, the parent company of FilmRise.