Last week, Roku launched its slate of Roku Originals, including a slew of former Quibi titles making their debut on The Roku Channel. Now Roku says the shows have quickly become the top 10 most-watched titles on The Roku Channel.
At the beginning of the year, Roku acquired over 75 shows and documentaries, including content that streamed on Quibi along with over a dozen titles that never made it to the short-lived streaming service when it bought Quibi.
Roku is having much better luck with Quibi’s shows than the quick bite streaming service did last year, although the content has always been solid. Last year, Quibi collected 2 Emmy awards for “#FreeRayShawn.” This year’s nominees include, “Die Hart,” “Mapleworth Murders” and “Reno 911!” all of which are live on Roku and rebranded as Roku Originals.
Roku viewers can now watch the former Quibi content on the big screen for free, something the Quibi app prohibited since its was subscription-based and mobile-only. Roku scripted exec Colin Davis said moving the short-form content to Roku “was such a seamless fit because we need ad breaks anyway, because that’s how we do support our programming.” “We obviously shot these with world-class filmmakers, so it is at the highest quality and looks amazing on a TV screen.”
While the shows are currently in their “quick bite” format of around 10 minutes each episode, Roku has started renewing the originals for new seasons and at traditional lengths. For example, “Reno 911″ has been renewed for a new season of 30-minute episodes. There’s also talk of “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist” being renewed at Roku. “We continue to evaluate things that make sense for us,” David said.