Roku Getting GoPro Channel “This Spring”

GoPro has made it official that it will debut a streaming channel on Roku Playerssometime “this spring” according to a press release. To date, GoPro’s channel was already available via less popular services such as Virgin America or LG, and XBOX was probably the most important distribution channel  announced until now.

GoPro has always said that it wanted to be a Media even more than being a hardware vendor, so this announcement fits completely in the company’s logic of strengthening its brand since the hardware itself could come under intense competition at any time. A recent misfiled patent by Apple has sent shockwaves among GoPro shareholders and put pressure on the market valuation.

I have watched the GoPro channel many times during Virgin America flights, and the quality of the videos is quite high. It is admittedly a much better experience than browsing youtube in search for this kind of content. GoPro does have its own YouTube channel as well, so the videos aren’t really exclusive but the user experience may be better with the streaming channel, depending on the curation.

GoPro is the most popular ActionCam series of product on a growing market which has also attracted companies like Sony who have had some successes, but at the moment GoPro retains the customers mindshare, and this is why it is critical for the brand to expand its media influence.

Hubert Nguyen
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Tags: gopro, roku