Roku is adding a new attachment to its original content strategy: the streaming platform acquired This Old House Ventures, the company behind the 42-year-old home improvement television brand.
With the pact, the current seasons of “This Old House” (Season 42) and “Ask This Old House” (Season 19) will be available for free on Canal Roku as episodes on demand. New episodes will arrive on the platform after being broadcast on local PBS stations.
Roku is acquiring all of the business from This Old House Ventures, based in Stamford, Connecticut. This gives Roku ownership of the global distribution rights and all subsidiary brands, including the TV shows “This Old House” and “Ask This Old House”, libraries of more than 1,500 episodes, all digital assets and the studio of the company’s TV production in Concord, Mass. In addition to TV programs, the company produces content for the web, social, podcast and print. (Roku’s business does not include “New Yankee Workshop”.)
The terms of the agreement were not disclosed. A source familiar with the pact said that Roku is paying less than $ 100 million for This Old House Ventures, buying it from the private equity firm TZP Group (which acquired it in 2016 from Time Inc.). With the deal, about 55 employees from This Old House Ventures are joining Roku, including CEO Dan Suratt and the team behind the shows.
The deal comes two months after Roku acquired the rights to more than 75 original programs from Quibi, the now defunct startup led by Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman, and his hiring of at least five former Quibi employees.
“As we grow, we look for these additional opportunities to expand our offering – but we make sure it fits our advertising model,” said Rob Holmes, vice president of programming at Roku, in an interview. “These incremental investments in content are commensurate with the scale and growth of Canal Roku.”
Suratt, of This Old House Ventures, said in a statement: “The passion of the craftsmen in ‘This Old House’ is matched only by its viewers, and we are very proud that, over the past four decades, we have helped them to enhance their assets more valuable – your home. Roku is not only the number one TV streaming platform in America, but it also represents the future of TV, and we couldn’t think of a better home for this Old House to grow and continue its leadership position in the reform genre. “
Select “This Old House” and “Ask This Old House”, episodes and specials are currently available on a wide range of digital platforms, including IMDb TV, PBS.org and the PBS app, NBCUniversal’s Peacock and Comcast’s Xumo, TV Pluto from ViacomCBS, Samsung TV Plus, Tubi from Fox Corp., Vizio smart TVs and YouTube.
Holmes said that Roku intends to continue to distribute the content of “This Old House” widely. “We don’t need it to be exclusive to provide us with value,” he said.
“This Old House” debuted for the first time in 1979. In 2020, “This Old House” and “Ask This Old House” were the two highest rated retirement programs in the US, according to Nielsen data, and the programs have accumulated a total of 19 Emmy awards and 102 Emmy nominations.
According to Holmes, Roku’s strategy of acquiring original content such as “This Old House” will complement the main programming of Canal Roku, which includes programs and films of about 175 licensees. While the subscription VOD business “requires exclusive content on an ongoing basis, we believe that ad-supported models, such as the Roku Channel, thrive on content that is widely distributed across multiple platforms and services,” he said.
Commenting on the sale of Roku, TZP partner Bill Hunscher said the company “is proud to have been the manager of this wonderful brand for the past five years”.
Hunscher and Harrison Davis led the transaction for TZP. Lazard served as the sole financial advisor for This Old House Ventures on the sale and the law firm Greenberg Traurig provided legal advice. Hogan Lovells is Roku’s legal advisor on the acquisition; the law firm also advised Roku on the Quibi business.