The Roku Channel is set to release 23 new titles hailing from subsidiary Quibi on Aug. 13. Starting Friday, streamers in the US, Canada, and UK can tune in for the new content including four never-before-seen shows.
New additions include Eye Candy, a Josh Groban-hosted game show in which celebrities and civilians try to identify hyper-realistic desserts, Leslie Jordan’s cleaning competition Squeaky Clean, and 10-part documentary What Happens in Hollywood, which looks at how sex and power drive filmmaking.
Viewers can also tune in to season two of Thanks a Million, catch up on Emmy-nominated Mapleworth Murders, watch Idris Elba and Ken Block race cars in Elba vs. Block, and dive into the annals of pop culture with Will Arnett’s Memory Hole. There’s also programming from Nicole Richie, rapper Offset, Andy Cohen, and Reese Witherspoon, among others.
“While it’s only been a few months since the launch of Roku Originals, the response has been overwhelming,” said Brian Tannenbaum, head of alternative programming at Roku. These new shows aim to keep up that momentum and attract new viewers to the ad-driven platform.
Quibi, which produced short episodes designed for smartphone viewing, became another pandemic casualty, shuttering just six months after its April 2020 launch due to insufficient uptake. Roku acquired the service (reportedly for less than $100 million), merging Quibi’s existing library with the free Roku Channel—which added another 30 Quibi-produced programs in May.
Also housed under the “Roku Originals” label is the recently released The Demi Lovato Show (previously announced as Pillow Talk with Demi Lovato, but never aired on Quibi).
The Roku Channel, host to 40,000 free movies and programs, comes bundled with a Roku streaming stick or Roku set-top box, and is accessible via a web browser for free (with ads).
