HBO Now (finally) launches on Roku
Roku, which tends to attract the most avid streamers of video, is the last of the major streaming devices to get HBO Now.
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Roku owners, rejoice: You can watch HBO Now at last.
HBO's online-only subscription service added support for Roku streaming-media devices Thursday, weeks after landing on competing gadgets from Amazon and Google and months after debuting on Apple devices.
HBO Now made waves for letting people watch the premium cable network purely via the Internet without a pay-TV subscription from a cable or satellite provider. HBO Now, which provides online streams of its shows and movies for $15 a month, launched in April through Apple devices. After Apple's three-month exclusive deal elapsed, the app added Google's Chromecast and Amazon's Fire TV and Fire TV Stick in August. The announcement gets HBO Now on every major streaming device and puts keeps Roku on pace with its competitors.
Earlier this week, Roku unveiled its first new set-top box in more than two years, the $129 Roku 4 .
Roku was the best selling streaming-media box in the US last year, according to estimate from researcher Parks Associates. It's also routinely the most used device in US households with broadband high-speed Internet, according to Parks.