Roku quietly rolls out major free upgrade for its users | Official Website of Louis Velazquez, entrepreneur, finance guy and tech innovator

Don’t you just love it when a service you regularly spend money on rewards you with something for free? Or when you get a free gift at the register? It’s a great feeling and a strategic marketing move for the retailer.

Freebies and rewards are deliberate psychological tools used to build “emotional loyalty,” rather than just a transactional relationship.

In the streaming world, free content upgrades, such as new movies, shows, and live channels at no extra cost, remain a key subscriber retention tool. The industry is in flux, as subscribers often switch between platforms, depending on the season, new releases of popular shows, and more.

Platforms are increasingly using free content tiers with the goal of keeping users inside their ecosystem when they stop paying for premium plans. What’s more, 76% of consumers say they would remain a member of a brand’s free program even if they were thinking about canceling their paid subscription, according to 2025 data from ebbo.

Following the trend, Roku has just quietly upgraded its offering for Roku TV and Roku player users at no additional cost.

Roku introduces nine new free channels to its lineup for Roku TVs and Roku players.

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Roku adds 9 new free channels to its lineup for Roku TVs and Roku players

Roku has upgraded its content offering with the launch of nine new channels to its lineup for anyone using a Roku TV or streaming player, reported Cord Cutters News.

These additions include live channels, meaning they play shows and movies on a set schedule with ads, similar to traditional cable TV. But they are free of charge.

Users can access these channels through the Roku Channel app, which already provides access to thousands of movies, shows, and live streams.

The new addition covers a wide range of genres, everything from action to classic sitcoms, sports and animated series, trying to please various audiences.

New channels available on Roku TV and Roku player:

Channel 429, “Pokémon”: A 24/7 channel for fans of the animated series.
Channel 823, “The Bernie Mac Show”: Classic episodes of the popular sitcom.
Channel 822, “America’s Funniest Home Videos”: Nonstop funny clips and pranks.
Channel 197, Willow Sports: Coverage of international cricket matches.
Channel 372, Fuel TV: Action sports like skateboarding, surfing, and motocross.
Channel 371, “Felicity”: The 90s/00s drama about college life.
Channel 829, “Cougar Town”: The comedy series starring Courteney Cox.
Channel 832, “Blossom”: The classic 90s family sitcom.
Channel 496, MeatEater: A channel dedicated to outdoor hunting and cooking.

To access these new nine channels on Roku, you don’t need to pay for a subscription or download anything new. These channels are automatically added to The Roku Channel app, which is already on your Roku device, and you can find them in the “Live TV” section.

Roku frequently updates its free channels offering

This is far from the first time the streamer has quietly surprised its users with a free addition of several channels. In Dec. 2025, Cord Cutters News also reported on the addition of 11 channels, including:

144 BBC News
198 Tennis+
315 “The Virginian”
370 “Home Improvement”
387 “My Wife and Kids”
497 PBS Genealogy
617 “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?”
734 “Love After Lockup” WE TV
834 Overtime
1008 TV Amor
1018 Mi Raza

With those and the latest addition, The Roku Channel now offers more than 500 free live TV channels, often called FAST channels (free ad-supported TV), covering all kinds of genres, writes Pocket Lint.

Roku’s “loss” hardware strategy results in reaching 90 million households

Roku, founded in October 2002, initially focused on media players for audio and video files. It grew its popularity by enabling older televisions to access streaming services such as Netflix.

Over time, however, Roku’s hardware became just the “doorway,” as the platform inside grew into an actual successful business.

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The company separates its business into two parts. Interestingly, it often sells its hardware (the sticks and boxes) at a very low price, sometimes nearly at a loss, just to get the platform into your home.

In its Q3 2025 earnings report, Roku reported a gross loss of $23 million on its devices. They specifically noted a negative 16% margin. During the same period, its Platform segment (ads and subscriptions) generated $1.065 billion in revenue with a healthy 51.5% profit margin.

According to a report from early 2025, Roku officially reached 90 million streaming households.

“Roku’s extensive scale sets us apart in the streaming industry, with more engagement than any other TV OS platform in the U.S.,” Roku CEO Anthony Wood said at the time.