LAS VEGAS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–(CES) — Roku, Inc. (Nasdaq: ROKU) and TCL®, America’s fastest-growing TV brand, today announced that the two companies are working together to make 8K TCL Roku TVs expected to be available to consumers in late 2019. TCL will leverage its latest Gen 11 LCD panel factory and Roku®is developing an 8K hardware reference design that TCL will be the first to license. Additionally, Roku is expanding its 4K and HDR hardware reference design to include far-field microphones for voice search and control. Today, TCL also announced they will be the first to deliver these TV models in 2019.
“Together TCL and Roku have delivered millions of smart TVs to consumers across North America that they love to use,” said Chas Smith, General Manager, Roku TV & Players. “In designing and delivering 8K TCL Roku TVs we will reach new heights by offering beautiful picture quality combined with America’s No. 1 TV streaming platform.”
“TCL and Roku have worked together closely for years driving innovation forward to give consumers brilliant picture-quality TVs with the best smart TV OS. As such, TCL’s devices have won numerous awards and we have quickly grown to the #2 brand of smart TVs in the U.S.,” said Chris Larson, Senior Vice President, TCL. “We are thrilled to continue to break boundaries as we plan to build televisions that push the limits of picture quality and offer TV models with built-in voice control.”
Since launching in 2014, the Roku TV™ licensing program has grown to be the No. 1 licensed TV OS in the U.S. The program provides OEMs with hardware reference designs and the Roku OS to build smart TVs. Roku manages the software updates, including delivering new features, regular channel updates and more. During the first nine months of 2018, more than one in four smart TVs sold in the U.S. were Roku TVs.
The Roku OS offers access to 500,000+ movies and TV episodes via thousands of free or paid channels. Consumers can search across hundreds of channels and see results in order by price, including what’s playing live if there is an HDTV antenna attached. The Roku Channel offers 10,000+ free ad-supported movies and TV episodes and later this month customers will also be able to browse, trial and subscribe to premium subscriptions from popular services such as EPIX, SHOWTIME®and STARZ. The Roku Channel provides easy account management and a single bill for services subscribed to from within the channel. Free content is also easy to find with Featured Free as it provides users with direct links to free in-season episodes from top network shows and full past-season catch-ups.
