Roku Developer

There are a few methods of creating a Roku channel.

1. Creating your channel yourself through Roku direct publishing.
2. Hire a service to custom-build your Roku channel for you.
3. 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:

1. 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.
2. 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).
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.