Roku Creates Kids & Family Zone

Roku has added to its roster Kids & Family, which will house a collection of child-friendly programming available for free on The Roku Channel.

Kids & Family is home to a mix of TV shows and movies, along with live linear and short-form video. No additional subscriptions or fees are required to access the tailored content.

Initially, there are some 7,000 free, ad-supported movies and TV episodes available to users from more than 20 key partners such as Allspark (a Hasbro company), DHX Media, Happy Kids TV, Lionsgate, Mattel, Moonbug and pocket.watch, among others.

Roku is also rolling out parental control features for The Roku Channel, giving parents an additional layer of control over what their kids can play back within the channel.

Kids & Family will be available to users of The Roku Channel in the U.S. starting today. It will be available on Roku devices, via the web and on select Samsung smart TVs that access The Roku Channel.

“We recognize that it can be a challenge to find quality kids’ and family entertainment across multiple streaming channels, particularly free, ad-supported options,” said Rob Holmes, VP of programming and engagement at Roku. “Kids & Family not only provides a selection of great free, ad-supported content from partners like pocket.watch with Ryan’s World and Lionsgate’s Leapfrog, but also highlights kids’ entertainment from existing Premium Subscriptions partners. Parents looking to find great programming for their children will enjoy the ease of going to The Roku Channel as their one place for kids’ and family entertainment.”