New Roku Study Finds Cord Cutting Hits Milestone Amid COVID-19 As Nearly 1 in 3 U.S. TV Households Are Cordless

Nearly Half of U.S. TV households Say They Watch More, Free Ad-Supported TV than Before;
About 1 in 5 Recent Cord Cutters Likely to Return to Traditional Pay TV Only if Sports Returns

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Roku, Inc. (NASDAQ: ROKU) today announced findings from its annual Cord Cutting study, including new insights shared by U.S. consumers about how the COVID-19 pandemic is influencing the shift to streaming. The study found that approximately 32% of U.S. TV households do not have a traditional pay TV subscription (cable, satellite, telco), while another 25% of households identified as Cord Shavers cut back their service. When asked about intent to cut the cord fully in the next six months, 45% of Cord Shaver households said they were likely to do so.

“While we entered 2020 with significant momentum around cord cutting, we’re now seeing that the COVID-19 pandemic and the pause of live sports has caused consumers to rethink how they access home entertainment and what they are willing to pay,” said Roku Chief Marketing Officer Matthew Anderson. “It’s clear that value matters more than ever and the abundance of free content, free trials to premium streaming services and the savings that consumers achieve are fueling the shift to streaming.”

Recent Roku Cord Cutter Households Claim Approximately $75 Savings Per Month

The vast majority of Cord Cutter households agree that they are satisfied with their decision and wish they had cut their traditional pay TV service earlier. When asked about factors driving the shift to full-time streaming, cutting home entertainment expenses was cited as the No. 1 reason. Roku users who cut the cord said they saved approximately $75 per month, a higher average savings than cord cutters who said they use other streaming devices.

Nearly Half of All U.S. TV Households Say They Stream More Free TV Amid Pandemic

Value is an important factor in driving cord cutting. Nearly half of all U.S. TV households said they have been watching more, free ad-supported TV during the COVID-19 pandemic than they did before. In addition, 40% of recent Cord Cutter households say that access to free trials and extended free trials to premium subscription services helped convince them to cut traditional pay TV service.

About 1 in 5 Recent Cord Cutters Likely to Return to Traditional Pay TV Only if Sports Returns

Only 17% of recent Cord Cutter households said they would re-subscribe to traditional pay TV when live sports returns this year. Thirty-one percent said they are likely to subscribe to a live sports streaming service. Over half (52%) of Traditional and Cord Shaver households say they are likely to reduce their package if televised live sports on traditional pay TV does not return.

Methodology

This year's Cord Cutting survey was conducted by MACRO Consulting, Inc. on behalf of Roku Inc. 7,000 Americans ages 18 and over were surveyed in March 2020 about their TV household, followed by 2,000 Americans ages 18 and over in May 2020 to understand changes amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

More Cord Cutting insights can be found on The Roku blog.

About Roku, Inc.

Roku pioneered streaming to the TV. We connect users to the streaming content they love, enable content publishers to build and monetize large audiences, and provide advertisers with unique capabilities to engage consumers. RokuTV™ models and Roku streaming players are available in select countries around the world through direct retail sales and licensing arrangements with TV brands and service operators. Roku audio products are available in the U.S. through direct retail sales. Roku is headquartered in San Jose, Calif. U.S.A.

This press release contains “forward-looking” statements that are based on our beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to us on the date of this press release. Forward-looking statements may involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These statements include but are not limited those related to trends in cord cutting and TV consumers’ shift to streaming; factors affecting such trends, including the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the pause of live sports, and the cost of traditional pay TV; how such trends and factors will develop; and savings consumers experience from cord cutting. Except as required by law, we assume no obligation to update these forward-looking statements publicly, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future. Important factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially are detailed from time to time in the reports Roku, Inc. files with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019 and our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2019. Copies of reports filed with the SEC are posted on Roku’s website and are available from Roku without charge.

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