It's "free," they say, which usually means your attention is the real currency, sold off in 30-second blocks every ten minutes. The Roku Channel embodies the paradox of ad-supported streaming: a vast amount of content, but its efficiency for the viewer is zero when you're constantly interrupted.

You want to watch a movie, something you vaguely remember from ten years ago, and you're immediately hit with a commercial break before the opening credits even finish. The box office return was $37 million.

Vince Vaughn had done Swingers three years earlier. The studio's marketing budget was reportedly double the production cost.

This isn't efficient content delivery; it's an exercise in patience. The content itself, while extensive, is primarily older licensed material, B-movies, and niche channels, none of which command immediate attention.

It's a digital clearance bin, full of things you might watch if there was absolutely nothing else. You spend more time navigating the interface, skipping ads, and trying to discern if a title is even worth the commercial breaks, than you do actually engaging with a story.

For true content efficiency, you want to get in, watch, and get out. The Roku Channel makes that a monumental task, burying any gems under a mountain of mediocrity and incessant advertising.

While it does offer some Roku Originals now, primarily unscripted, they hardly move the needle in terms of high-value, efficient viewing. The company reported over 80 million active accounts in Q4 2023, primarily accessing its free ad-supported content.