#The Roku Channel Launches on Google TV

The Roku Channel is now available on Google TV and other Android TV OS devices, the company said Wednesday.

Previously, the Roku Channel, the streaming device and platform’s free entertainment channel, had only been available on Roku devices, Fire TV, Samsung TVs, the Roku mobile app and online. This is the latest expansion for the channel, which has been adding to its programming lineup and branching out into originals, including WEIRD: The Al Yankovic Story, Die Hart and Die Hart 2: Die Harter, both starring Kevin Hart, and The Great American Baking Show.

Roku has also been adding exclusive live sports programming, with a recently unveiled partnership that will see 11 Formula E motorsport races featured on the Roku Channel per season. 

In total, the Roku Channel features more than 80,000 free movies and programs and more than 350 live linear television channels. In May, the channel broke into Nielsen’s monthly platform rankings for the first time, representing 1.1 percent of all TV use for the month, following the trajectory of fellow FAST series Pluto TV and Tubi.

The free channel has become a bigger part of Roku’s overall strategy after the company hired former Fox exec Charlie Collier to lead its content and advertising business this past fall. Collier has since promoted David Eilenberg, who was head of originals, to oversee content across the media division. 

Still, Roku has been challenged by a tough advertising market and growing losses, which it managed to pare down in its most recent quarter. Roku has set out a plan to tighten expenses moving forward, which thus far has included cutting about 400 positions.

The company has said content spend is based on the scale and growth of the Roku Channel, and had been adjusted due to the macroeconomic conditions. The majority of its content spending is on licensed content, but Collier has highlighted originals on the Roku Channel as a means to bring in more viewers and major advertisers. 

Roku has also been branching out in the device business, after launching its own Roku-branded TVs at Best Buy.