Roku's newest streaming channel, Howdy, is set to expand its reach beyond Roku devices, according to CEO Anthony Wood. Speaking at CES 2026, Wood revealed the company's ambition for the $2.99 per month ad-free service to become a significant competitor in the broader streaming market, addressing a gap left by increasingly expensive and ad-heavy rivals.
Launched last August, Howdy offers ad-free access to a library of content at a time when many competing streaming services are raising prices and increasing their ad loads. Wood elaborated on this strategy during the Variety Entertainment Summit at CES, explaining:
"The opportunity for Howdy was — if you just look at what’s going on in the streaming world with streaming services, they’re getting more expensive. They keep raising prices, and they keep adding larger and larger ad loads. And so, the part of the market where it actually started — low-cost and no ads — is gone now. There’s no streaming services that address that portion of the market."
The Roku chief executive further indicated that Howdy's expansion would not be limited to Roku's own customer base. While the service initially debuted on Roku platforms, Wood confirmed the company's intention to "take it off-platform as well." When pressed for specifics offstage by TechCrunch, Wood clarified that while Roku hasn't yet announced the precise platforms, the goal is to "distribute it everywhere." This suggests that Howdy could eventually be available as a standalone app on various devices, both mobile and desktop.
Although Wood declined to share subscriber numbers with TechCrunch, he expressed strong confidence in Howdy's potential during his onstage remarks:
"I think if I just look at the market, it’s going to be a big streaming service,"
he stated, underscoring Roku's belief in Howdy's ability to carve out a substantial niche in the evolving streaming landscape.
