Roku is taking a tentative step towards the daytime talk show space. As of Dec 1st, Roku Channel will now be offering viewers WarnerBros’ and Telepictures’ The Jennifer Hudson Show as its exclusive streaming home. We’re seeing some interesting trials of genres and formats once exclusive to cable and linear TV on streaming, so this new first is an interesting one indeed. Brandon Blake, Entertainment lawyer Blake & Wang P.A, takes a closer look.
24 Hour Offering
The streamed offering will go live a day after its first broadcast on linear TV, and all previously-aired episodes are already available to stream (for free, it’s worth noting) on the Roku Channel.
The Jennifer Hudson Show has done surprisingly well as a freshman series in a format that has slipped a little out of popularity of late. It’s considered a top performing series, and Jennifer Hudson herself counts as an A-list talent, too. Seeing it offered- and for free- could be an interesting test case for the daytime format on streaming channels. Additionally, it builds a nice new content niche onto the Roku Channel format, which has done undeniably well for itself this year.
Experiment or New Choice?
When it comes to broadening streaming horizons, no one can deny that moving live sports broadcast to the streaming environment has been a runaway success story for 2022. From dedicated offerings like Disney’s ESPN+ to occasional broadcasts on mixed streamers, it’s proved a lucrative and attractive arena, with solid growth we haven’t seen reflected elsewhere in the streaming model this year. With more and more of the ‘linear exclusive’ formats being trialed in a streaming environment, this could be an interesting experiment all around. Will we eventually see a merger of the traditional liner environment with the new boundaries of streaming? Will this be a good way to boost cable and linear offerings, or another nail in their coffin? For now, we can only wait and see- but it will be an interesting trial, for sure.
