Roku Premium Subscriptions Similar To Those On Amazon Channels Will Go On Sale This Month

Roku is taking a page out of Amazon's book, and will begin selling premium video subscription services like Showtime, and Starz and Epix later this month. The Roku streaming device launched a free Roku Channel last year, but nothing free lasts forever, folks. The Roku Channel will now sell paid subscriptions similar to the video subscriptions sold on Amazon's Amazon Channels.Variety is reporting the news regarding the Roku premium subscriptions, offering paid channels for Showtime, Starz, Epix, CuriosityStream, Hopster, the Smithsonian ChannelPlus, Tastemade and Viewster Anime. Viewers will be able to browse any channel in its entirety before deciding to subscribe. The biggest channel missing here is HBO, who apparently haven't struck a deal with Roku yet.

There's a slight hitch, though: when this all launches later this month, "consumers who sign up for a paid subscription service via the Roku Channel won't be able to log into the standalone app of the service. Instead, they will have to watch every video directly through the Roku Channel, even on mobile devices." Not to worry, though: Roku is also launching the Roku Channel as part of its mobile app, which should take care of the issue.

This will also mark the launch of an Epix online video subscription service. Until now, Epix was only available through paid TV providers, and hasn't even been added to Amazon Channels yet. And Amazon Channels is definitely what Roku wants to emulate here. The paid channel subscriptions sold through Amazon have been a huge financial hit for the company, and now Roku wants in on that action.

Thanks a new Roku Pay payment service, Roku Channel users will be given the chance to add new subscription services to their line-up with one click, which will then consulate everything under one bill. No fuss, no muss.

I use Roku to stream, but I already have subscriptions to the various channels I use, primarily through my cable provider. This step is yet another way around traditional cable companies, which is no doubt a huge bonus to some people. The money Roku earns from this move will only increase their standing, and grow their business. There was a time, not very long ago, when all of this seemed unthinkable. TV was the domain of cable companies, and you had to play by their rules (unless you wanted to slip the cable guy a $50 bill to bypass all of that, just like the Jim Carrey movie The Cable Guy). Now, streaming reigns supreme