It’s been a rough period for many Roku streaming device owners, but many will be delighted to know Amazon Prime Video and the IMDb TV apps won’t be departing the platform.
Amazon and Roku have come to a multi-year agreement, which keeps the former’s streaming services on the latter’s hardware.
After a highly-publicised dispute with Google over YouTube TV led to the live TV streaming service disappearing from the platform for eight months in 2021, this is welcome news. That spat also led to the possibility of YouTube itself disappearing from the platform, in a bitter fight between the two tech firms.
Roku was also one of the last manufacturers to get the HBO Max app on board too. Amazon’s apps through, will remain a constant on the platform. Roku owners will be relieved to hear the negotiations have been painless.
In a statement, which didn’t reveal the terms of the agreement, Roku said: “Roku and Amazon have reached a multi-year extension for their distribution agreement. Customers can continue to access the Prime Video and IMDb TV apps on their Roku devices.”
Roku’s streaming sticks and RokuOS TVs have continued to perform well in recent years and now it seems the company might be on the verge of making its own televisions.
A report from Business Insider in February said the company is exploring plans to manufacture tellies and cut out the middle man, which would naturally be fitted with the RokuOS. It would follow Amazon into the TV market, although those branded sets are made by a third-party rather than Amazon itself.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
