Hire A Roku Channel Developer
“Create your own TV channel.” It’s advice that might have sounded ridiculous twenty years ago. Even if you were to start a radio channel, the cost factor was far too high to even consider starting your own channel. But then YouTube came along, and everything changed. The cost of starting your channel went down hundreds of dollars.
But even if your content is online on a YouTube channel, it doesn’t mean anyone is watching it. You have to promote your videos and build a viewership. But now there is another way.
Building a channel on OTT devices (set-top boxes) is still a growing trend. Even though it costs more than creating a YouTube channel, it allows you complete freedom over the creation and distribution of your content. It also allows you to monetize your content on your own terms — something you can’t do on YouTube.
How To Create A Roku Channel
Roku is the most commonly used OTT streaming device in the country. It boasts a user-base of over 50 million. The two primary reasons for that are the price and the variety of channels available.
What this means for you is that you get access to one of the largest OTT content viewer bases, when we create your Roku channel. It’s also surprisingly easy, and you don’t need a lot of specialized training to create such a channel. All you need is your content, a Roku device, hosting service, and you are good to go.
There are a few methods of creating a Roku channel.
- Creating your channel yourself through Roku direct publishing.
- Hire a service to custom-build your Roku channel for you.
- Lease a pre-made, generic Roku channel modified for your need and content.
For now, let’s see how you can create your own channel using a direct publishing method.
You will need a few things before creating your own channel: A Roku device (connected to TV or PC), Roku customer account, and enrolling in the Roku developer program. Then you can follow these steps:
- Once you have the account set up and you are enrolled in the right programs with Roku developers, you have to make sure your content feed is the right format (MP4, MOV, etc.). Convert it if it isn’t. This is something you may already know, but you can’t use content that isn’t original, free-to-use, or licensed to you.
- Now the most important part is from where your video will be running. If you have a website, you can post your video content on that. Or you can choose alternate video content hosting solutions like OVPs (Online Video Platforms like Zype or Vimeo Pro) or CDNs (Content Delivery Networks like Amazon Web Services, EdgeCast, and Akamai).
- The next part is creating the video feed or connecting your content hosting platform to your Roku Channel. You can do that via Direct Publisher feed format (JSON) or MRSS feed for short-form content (videos less in 20 minutes in length). But if this setup (and relevant coding) seems overwhelming, Roku has a list of preferred feed creation partners that you can work with.
- When this is done, you can get to the actual “branding” of your channel. Create a channel logo, splash screen (loading screen), and create screenshots for your channel’s marketing on Roku.
- Now it’s time to publish your channel. This includes:
– Filling out channel properties (countries, languages, parental guidance/filter, vanity access code, etc.)
– Add the content feed you just created (or got from a third party creator).
– Add the channel branding images to the account.
– Choose and created category tags for your content. They will help your viewer sort the videos relatively easily.
– Fill out the channel store info. This is imperative to do right because this is what any potential viewer will see first.
– Manage your monetization options. You can choose between to monetization models available on Roku: Roku Sales Representation Program and Inventory split.
– If you created screenshots yourself, you could add them. If not, you can choose the auto-generate option.
With all this done, you can preview and publish the channel you just created. With the given URL, you can add the channel to your own Roku device and test out the channel. You can also share this link with anyone else you want to test the channel out.
Skip The Hassle Creating A Custom Roku Channel
From the steps above, you might have gathered the Roku made it very easy to publish your own channel. But without any experience and relevant exposure, you might not be able to realize the full potential of a Roku channel. This is why we recommend working with a professional Roku channel developer like Exporexi.
With us, you might pay a bit more than what you would in creating the channel yourself. But what you will get in return is a single-point comprehensive service for your channel creation. You won’t need to hunt for third-party content hosting services or feed creators, because we offer that and Roku channel hosting ourselves. Our Channel management system lets you manage the day to day aspects of running your channel and it’s content from anywhere with an internet connection.
You need only to worry about creating the content—we will create the perfect Roku channel for you. If you are unsure about managing it after creation, we can help with that as well. Think of Exporexi as your partner in creating your Roku, Apple TV, or Amazon Fire TV marketing needs. Every customer gets a personalized strategy session with our TV professionals that focuses on your goals for channel success.
Roku App Highlights
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Live streaming capabilities
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Scheduling capabilities for prerecorded and live content
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Monetization options (in-channel ads as well as partner ads)
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E-commerce capabilities
- Live webinars from the channel
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Google analytics integration
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RSS, JSON and other types of feeds to auto-update channels
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Pay Per View (PPV)
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Podcasting and radio station ready
Connect with a Roku developer
Are you ready to create a custom Roku channel? Use the contact form below or schedule a call here to get in touch with Exporexi.