What They Say
As expected (Roku to Launch its Players in Germany) Roku has formally announced that it is releasing its streaming sticks in Germany including the Roku Express, Roku Express 4K, Roku Streaming Stick 4K and Roku Streambar with pricing at €29.99, €39.99, €59.99 and €149.99, respectively.
Local content includes:
- Movies & TV: ARD Mediathek, ZDF, Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, Apple TV, STARZPLAY, Sky Ticket, TVNOW (soon RTL+), KiKA, Netzkino, ProSieben, Sat.1, Kabel Eins, Pluto TV, Rakuten TV, watch4.com and more.
- News: Tagesschau, Bild TV, TRT World, Deutsche Welle, Bloomberg and more.
- Sports: Sky Ticket, TVNOW (soon RTL+), DAZN, Motorvision.TV, SPORTTOTAL, The Tennis Channel etc.
- Music: Spotify, VEVO, Berliner Philharmoniker and more.
What We Think
Separately, we saw this forecast (Germany to overtake the UK by SVOD subscribers) that Germany will significantly exceed the UK for streaming subscriptions in the future. I remember, years ago, that people would tell me that ‘Germans won’t pay for TV’. I always saw that as wrong. While Germans are cautious buyers and don’t like to, as we say in the UK. ‘splash the cash’, they do like good products and service and will pay if they see value. Given how dull much German public service broadcasting is, I’m not surprised to see them signing up for streaming services.
Of course, if Roku is to support TV set makers, it still has a lot to do to get enough ‘critical mass’ of service support in Europe. (BR)
