Roku reaches impressive milestone -- more than 27 million active accounts

In 2019, streaming media is ubiquitous. It seems like everyone has a Netflix account -- not to mention Hulu, Spotify, YouTube, and more. Hell, as more and more people cut the cord, even live TV is being streamed over the internet. If you are a big fan of consuming media, you are definitely alive at the right time. Of course, to enjoy streaming media, you need hardware to do so. Many TVs are "smart" these days, meaning they have the ability to access services without the need of a media box.

With that said, smart TVs are often quite dumb in this regard -- they can be outdated (abandoned by the maker) and offer deficient user interfaces. That's why many people still buy things like Apple TV and Roku even when they have a TV with similar functionality. While I love my Apple TV, Roku remains the best value -- its hardware is very capable and affordable, while having access to many popular services -- including free movies! That's why it should come as no surprise that Roku has reached an important milestone -- more than 27 million active accounts! Wow.

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"It's a great time to be in the streaming business. As consumers shift away from traditional linear TV and toward streaming, the Roku platform is continuing to gain momentum. Active accounts at the end of 2018 topped 27 million, up roughly 40 percent year-over-year. And our customers streamed their hearts out, as total streaming hours in 2018 were about 24 billion hours of movies, TV episodes, sports and more," brags Roku.

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Anthony Wood, Roku CEO shares, "Strong active account growth and accelerating streaming hours point to consumers’ growing enthusiasm for streaming, making Roku America's largest and fastest growing TV streaming distribution platform. In 2018, we maintained our leadership in streaming players, licensed smart TVs and TV streaming hours. Roku continues to bring viewers more choice, great value, a compelling user experience -- and lots of TV fun."

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As I said previously, I am an Apple TV owner. If I could go back in time, however, I would probably go with Roku. You simply can't beat the price, and it is the class-leader regarding available services. With lots of uncertainty about the economy right now, I expect the value-focused Roku to have continued success in 2019.

Are you a Roku owner? Are you satisfied with the device and service? Please tell me in the comments below.