Roku welcomed netflix in the streaming advertising market.

As SVoD service Netflix launches ad-supported low-cost tier in 12 territories this week, Roku Head of Originals David Eilenberg said his platform saw no direct threat and instead focused on the benefits of long-term market changes.

“We believe that the catalytic effect of [Netflix’s entrance] will have on the holistic shift from linear to streaming on ad spend outweighs the competition in the near term,” he said.

He also argued that the Roku box is a “fundamentally different” product from Netflix and other low-cost streamers “because ours is really free and they ultimately require a monthly subscription, even at a discounted rate.” They resonate differently with consumers.

Netflix is ​​also available through Roku in the United States. “All of these companies that are competitors in one respect are partners in another,” Eilenberg said.

Roku certainly faces challenges, as despite total revenue and user numbers well ahead of analysts’ Q4 forecasts this week, his stock fell as shareholders quibble over a slowing digital ad market. However, Roku is focused on international expansion, due to its belief that AVoD and FAST channels will dominate the future of entertainment and has outlined bullish plans for original shows. It’s currently available in the US, UK, Canada, and Mexico, where its first Spanish-language service recently went live.

“There’s been tremendous growth in viewing to FAST channels,” Eilenberg said. “That’s true both for us and in the AVOD business – some of it is news and weather, but some of it is curated show channels. If you know you have enough hours to fill a FAST channel and the public who wants it, you are always interested in doing so.

Roku now offers most, if not all, of the The Great British Bake Off in the United States on a channel organized after executives noticed the commitment in the United States of the title Love Productions, known in the country as The great British pastry fair. This was followed by the commission of a six-part commission for The Great American Pastry Show, which is filming in the famous UK tent with original series judges Paul Hollywood and Pru Leith. Ellie Kempter and Zach Cherry in attendance, with Love Productions USA overseeing the cooking. It launches next year.

Colored projections

Eilenberg, a former chief content officer for Turner and ITV America, spoke exclusively to Deadline as The Roku Channel’s loudest original content game to date, the Daniel Radcliffe-starring Bizarre: the story of Al Yankovic, launched this week. Filled with unexpected cameos from the world of comedy (no spoilers here), the film is garnering attention, and so Roku has hosted funky and colorful screenings and parties for the show in New York and London. You can read Valerie Complex’s review of TIFF here.

“If there’s a key statement here,” Eilenberg said of Weird, “is that we strive to surprise and delight viewers. People seem to be responding with such enthusiasm and we can’t wait for him to join our service this week.

Eilenberg was speaking to Deadline’s London office from the US, having joined Roku earlier this year from the US arm of ITV, where he was chief content officer, to lead a concerted push into original films and TV. . When he was hired announcement, Roku planned to order around 50 Originals over the next two years. With the economy worsening and the stock price falling, market watchers will be interested to see how far he can go in this commitment.

Roku has certainly been making noise on the international front, with Dutch vice president of the international platform Mirjam Laux, former country head of Prime Video, overseeing the rollout. However, it was the marquee capture of Fox Entertainment CEO Charlie Collier becoming the leader of Roku Media was the entertainment industry’s true statement of intent, as well as the chatter that grew after the move of Eilenberg, another executive with a traditional TV background.

“It’s an exciting time to be part of the organization,” said Eilenberg. “Roku itself has been around for two decades, but the Roku Originals are only a year old, so the fact that we’re live and active in four major territories means it’s an exciting time for the channel and my time. directing the originals.”

Eilenberg and his Roku Originals team have recently made several interesting pieces. Last month deadline revealed the channel had saved the TBS cable series Chad, the coming-of-age comedy about a Persian-American boy, giving it a second season after Warner Bros. Discovery opted to drop it along with several others as part of the ongoing cost-cutting campaign. Roku did the same with Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist after NBC canceled it.

Eilenberg pointed to the upcoming scripted comedy UNDERWEAR, written, starring and directed by Zoe Lister-Jones and from Canada’s Boat Rocker and TeaTime Pictures from Dakota Johnson and Ro Donnelly, one to watch. It follows Mae (Lister-Jones) through a fantastical journey of parallel universes, as she enters into new relationships, trying to find her partner and herself.

He also has high hopes for In Paris for love: a ‘Rom Com’ reality by Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine and Zoe Saldana’s Cinestar which Eilenberg describes as “at its heart it’s an unscripted dating and romance show but cut as a single rom com feature – a totally different from attacking this genre.”