Apple is bringing one of its biggest shows to a free streaming platform, in an apparent bet that the influx of viewers will help drive new subscribers to its Apple TV+ streaming service.
Roku on Thursday said that the entire first season of Severance would be available on its Roku Channel for what it is calling an “exclusive fan experience,” which will run through Jan. 19.
The effort is connected to the debut of season two of Severance on Apple TV+ on Jan. 17. In addition to the first season, Roku Channel will get a preview of season two of the Adam Scott-starring thriller, as well as behind-the-scenes content. Users will also be eligible for three free months of Apple TV+.
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The fan experience will be accessible directly from the Roku home screen, underscoring the high-profile placement of the deal. Roku has some 90 million users, making it one of the biggest free streaming video platforms on the market.
“Partnering with Apple ahead of the highly anticipated Severance season 2 and being able to create an exclusive fan experience that is available to millions of U.S. households including offering Apple TV+ content outside of the Apple ecosystem, on the Roku Channel for the first time ever is incredibly exciting for us.,” said Sweta Patel, VP of growth marketing & merchandising for Roku. “Part of the magic of the Roku platform is that we can work with our brand partners to create bespoke experiences that our viewers love and achieve our partner’s goals.”
The deal underscores the reach and power of Roku’s platform, and is yet another example of Apple pulling out all the stops to generate interest and subscriptions for Apple TV+.
Last weekend Apple took the unprecedented move of making Apple TV+ free for everyone from Jan. 3-5, hoping that users would sample its programming, which includes Ted Lasso, Slow Horses and The Morning Show.
And last fall Apple cut a deal with Amazon to bring Apple TV+ to Prime Video Channels, letting users subscribe and access programming through the popular aggregator.
Still, bringing a high-profile series like Severance to a free streaming option like Roku Channel (even if an older season), is yet another push by the company to make its offering more accessible to more people, and betting that users will stick around once they sample it.
There is precedent for such a deal. Last year AMC Networks cut a deal with Netflix to bring older seasons of many of its shows to the streaming giant, betting that it could drive its users to its own AMC+ app for the current episodes.
In a streaming world scale matters, and the services with it are increasingly the beneficiaries as smaller players look to get eyeballs in front of their programming.
