Roku’s line of digital media streamers lands Disney video today. While it’s not full length movie or television content, the companies are providing hundreds of short-form video segments from Disney.com. As you can see from the brief walk-thru I filmed, it’s an interesting mix of entertainment and advertisement. And a pretty good deal at the cost of zero dollars.
Additionally, I’m told Disney intends to “to roll out more content and new features in the months to come.” While I don’t see them embracing full fledged video on demand via this avenue, they could get in on the Roku 2’s casual gaming capabilities to further replicate the functionality offered on their website.
Lastly, Roku’s announcement phraseology below emphasizes the rapid expansion of this space and that there will be a decent amount of content overlap amongst competing devices. Being first is an advantage, as is Roku’s low hardware pricing (starting at $60). While some, like Apple TV, will compete on brand awareness and polish.
“We’re delighted to be the first player to stream this collection of Disney videos to consumers’ TVs,” said Roku Founder and CEO Anthony Wood.
I should add that Roku needs more sophisticated parental controls before leaving children alone with the Roku. As it stands, it’s not very granular – basically you can require a PIN to add a channel.