Roku Introduces Howdy™ Mobile App, Expanding Affordable Ad-Free Streaming

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar 31, 2026--

Today, Roku announced that Howdy™, its affordable ad-free subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) streaming service, is launching as a mobile app in the U.S. The app is available now on the iOS App Store and Google Play, offering a seamless viewing experience with on-the-go access to Howdy’s curated library of iconic rom-coms, medical dramas, ‘90s comedy, feel-good classics, and more. In April, Howdy will feature audience favorites like “Edge of Tomorrow,” “Tyler Perry's Madea’s Big Happy Family,” and “When Harry Met Sally.”

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260331446219/en/

“At a time when most things are getting more expensive, Howdy is designed to make premium, ad-free streaming more affordable and accessible for all viewers,” said Gil Fuchsberg, President of Subscriptions, Partnerships and Corporate Development at Roku. “Launching the Howdy mobile app on iOS and Android enables us to continue growing the service beyond the Roku platform, bringing Howdy’s unique value and quality entertainment to even more viewers.”

Priced at $2.99 per month – the lowest price for ad-free streaming on the market – Howdy offers thousands of titles and over 10,000 hours of entertainment from FilmRise, Lionsgate, Sony Pictures, and Warner Bros. Discovery, alongside select Roku Original titles. The launch builds on Howdy’s recent expansion as a subscription on Prime Video, where it joins more than 100 available subscription options in the U.S.

The mobile rollout of Howdy complements Roku’s strategy to grow platform revenue and expand both third- and first-party subscriptions across Roku’s platform, which reaches over 125 million people in U.S. households daily. In addition to Howdy, which launched in August 2025, Roku owns and operates The Roku Channel, the most-watched free ad-supported TV (FAST) service in the U.S.*, and Frndly TV™, an affordable live TV subscription service.

For more information or to sign up, visit howdy.tv.

* Source: Nielsen’s The Gauge Report, January 2026

About Roku, Inc.

Roku pioneered streaming on TV. Today, it is the #1 TV streaming platform in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico by hours streamed (Hypothesis Group, Dec. 2025). Roku connects viewers to the content they love, enables content publishers to build and monetize large audiences through advertising and subscriptions, and provides advertisers with unique capabilities to reach and engage consumers. Roku streaming players and Roku-made TVs are available at major retailers, and licensed Roku TV™ models are sold by leading TV brands in more than 15 countries around the world. Roku also owns and operates The Roku Channel, the home of premium and free entertainment; Howdy, a low-cost subscription service; and Frndly TV, a live TV streaming service. Roku is headquartered in San Jose, Calif., U.S.A.

This press release contains “forward-looking” statements that are based on our beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to us on the date of this press release. Forward-looking statements may involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These statements include but are not limited to the features, benefits, and reach of Howdy, the Howdy mobile app, and the Roku platform. Except as required by law, we assume no obligation to update these forward-looking statements publicly, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future. Important factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially are detailed from time to time in the reports Roku, Inc. files with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. Copies of reports filed with the SEC are posted on Roku’s website and are available from Roku without charge.

The app is available now on the iOS App Store and Google Play, offering a seamless viewing experience with on-the-go access to Howdy’s curated library of iconic rom-coms, medical dramas, ‘90s comedy, feel-good classics, and more.

Priced at $2.99 per month – the lowest price for ad-free streaming on the market – Howdy offers thousands of titles and over 10,000 hours of entertainment.

HAVANA (AP) — The Russian vessel Anatoly Kolodkin docked Tuesday at the Cuban port of Matanzas laden with 730,000 barrels of oil, marking the first time in three months that an oil tanker reached the island.

The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump had allowed the shipment to proceed despite its ongoing energy blockade.

Cubans including Energy and Mines Minister Vicente de la O Levy cheered the ship’s arrival. A shortage of petroleum has exacerbated a deep economic crisis that has left the population mired in long blackouts and facing a severe shortage of food and medicine.

“Our gratitude to the Government and People of Russia for all the support we are receiving. A valuable shipment that arrives amidst the complex energy situation we are facing,” de la O Levy wrote on X.

Cuba produces barely 40% of its required fuel and relies on imports to sustain its energy grid. Experts say the anticipated shipment could produce about 180,000 barrels of diesel, enough to feed Cuba’s daily demand for nine or 10 days.

"The arrival of an oil tanker to a country has likely never generated so much news as the Russian one to Cuba," wrote Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío on X. “It’s a sign of the brutal siege Cubans endure with heroism and stoicism. It’s a demonstration of the criminal cruelty of imperialism against a nation that refuses to be dominated.”

Cuba used to receive most of its oil from Venezuela, but those shipments were halted ever since the U.S. attacked the South American country and arrested its leader in early January.

Since then, Mexico also has halted its oil shipments to Cuba as Trump threatened in late January to impose tariffs on any country that sells or provides oil to the island.

On Sunday night, Trump had said he had “no problem” with a Russian oil tanker off the coast of Cuba delivering relief to the island,

“We don’t mind having somebody get a boatload because they need … they have to survive,” Trump told reporters as he flew back to Washington.

“Cuba’s finished,” he added. "They have a bad regime. They have very bad and corrupt leadership and whether or not they get a boat of oil, it’s not going to matter.”

The vessel is sanctioned by the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom following the war in Ukraine.

On Monday, when asked about Trump’s decision to allow the Russian oil tanker and not ones from other countries, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called it “a decision that will continue to be made on a case-by-case basis for humanitarian reasons or otherwise,” adding that “there’s been no firm change in our sanctions policy.”

Trump and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio have been pressuring for major changes in Cuba's policies and governance, all while both sides acknowledged talks as the island's economic and energetic crises deepen.

Russian-flagged oil tanker Anatoly Kolodkin, left, passes the Cuban vessel Vilma as it approaches Matanzas in Matanzas, Cuba, Tuesday, March 31, 2026.. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Russian-flagged oil tanker Anatoly Kolodki, right, approaches Matanzas, Cuba, Tuesday, March 31, 2026.. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)