Roku Is Quietly Becoming a Media Power Player

One of the biggest FAST (that’s Free Ad Supported TV) providers is fast becoming one of the biggest winners of the streaming age.

In its fourth-quarter earnings call last week, Roku announced its platform revenue — which includes ads sold both on its Roku Channel FAST service, as well as display ads on its home screen — grew 18% year-over-year to reach $1.2 billion, pushing total growth for the entire year to a similar 18% and total revenue of $4.1 billion. It’s a sign the connected TV (CTV) ad market is maturing — though experts told The Daily Upside it’s still far from mature.

Service Industry

Marketers chase eyeballs. Somewhere between the fading world of linear TV and the booming world of performance marketing across search and social platforms like TikTok and Instagram sits CTV, the connective tissue of the streaming era, spanning FAST networks and subscription platforms like Netflix and Hulu. While CTV often blends the best of both worlds — combining the commanding nature of living room TVs with the data-driven, programmatic ad delivery capabilities of social advertising — marketing budgets had until now been slow to adapt.

As that changes, Roku has emerged as a primary beneficiary:

• While CTV accounts for roughly 30% of all digital media screen time for US consumers, it accounts for only about 10% of total digital advertising spend, Moe Chughtai, global vice president of strategy and partnerships at adtech platform MiQ, told The Daily Upside. “Ad dollars follow eyeballs, and they are way behind eyeballs,” Chughtai said.
• In its earnings call, Roku cited data from Standard Media Index that showed its ad growth in 2025 outpaced the broader CTV and digital media markets. Meanwhile, industry members believe Roku accounts for 15% to 20% of all ads served across the CTV ecosystem, Third Bridge sector analyst John Conca told The Daily Upside.

Channel Surfing: While Roku doesn’t break out ad revenue for its FAST service from sales of display ads on its homescreen, Conca said it’s likely the majority of cash comes from the former. That’s unsurprising, given that the Roku Channel has quietly turned into a streaming juggernaut. In January, it accounted for 3% of all CTV screentime in the US, according to Nielsen. That puts it behind only YouTube (12.5%), Netflix (8.8%), Disney (4.9%), and Amazon Prime Video (4.1%) — and notably ahead of Peacock, Paramount, HBO Max and Tubi. Turns out, it’s more than just the tile on your Roku screen that you never click on.