Roku makes France its first European launch after UK

Roku has launched in France for the first time, marking its first new European rollout since it started selling its devices in the UK and Ireland in 2012.

Roku has started selling three streaming player models in the country – the Roku 2, Roku 3 and the Roku Streaming Stick.

Customers will be able to use these to access some 1,500 streaming channels, including Netflix, Google Play, YouTube, Daily Motion and France 24.

“Roku streaming players give consumers choice and control over what they watch on TV. With a Roku streaming player you can watch popular movies and TV shows, independent movies, cartoons, cooking shows and even yoga instruction videos. There really is something for everyone,” said Clive Hudson, vice president of Europe at Roku.

Roku also said it is focused on making local content available for streaming in France, starting with channels from LA VOD videofutur, Deezer and ARTE, which are due to launch soon.

Mathias Hautefort, CEO of movie and TV streaming service videofutur said: “Our aim is to make our service LA VOD videofutur available to all French consumers. In order to achieve that we have to be available on major streaming platforms, including Roku.

“Roku is an open platform addressing the OTT market in France which is also one of our main targets.”

Roku devices are available in France now via retail chain FNAC. The company is also live in the US and Canada, Mexico and the UK and Ireland.