Roku has acquired the “This Old House” franchise. The deal includes global distribution rights and all of its subsidiary brands, including “This Old House” and “Ask This Old House” tv shows, the show libraries, all digital assets and the TV production studio.
According to Roku, “This Old House” and “Ask This Old House” were the two top-rated home improvement programs in the U.S. in 2020, via Nielsen data.
Roku users can already access past seasons of “This Old House” and “Ask This Old House” for free on The Roku Channel. Furthermore, the current seasons of both shows are available gratis on The Roku Channel after they air on local PBS stations.
“As the top-rated home improvement programs in America, ‘This Old House’ has the broad appeal that is perfectly suited to support The Roku Channel’s ad-supported growth strategy. ‘This Old House’ created the television home improvement genre and is beloved by millions of fans. We are thrilled to welcome this incredible team, and we could not be more excited to help grow the brand for an entire new generation of home improvement enthusiasts.”
Rob Holmes, VP of Programming, Roku
This Old House celebrated its 40th Anniversary in 2019. The current show’s cast includes Kevin O’Connor, Richard Trethewey, Jenn Nawada and Tom Silva. When the show launched in 1979, it began a new TV genre that empowered home remodelers.
The brand now also includes This Old House Magazine, ThisOldHouse.com and a myriad of assets including social, podcasting, app, YouTube and ad supported digital TV.
Roku says they plan to continue to provide this content and expand the production and distribution of the shows.
“We believe that the types of incremental content investments we have been making are commensurate with the scale and growth trajectory of The Roku Channel. While TV subscription services require exclusive content on an ongoing basis, we believe that ad-supported models like The Roku Channel thrive with content that is broadly distributed across multiple platforms and services. Furthermore, the more relevant the content becomes for a larger audience, the more appealing it is to advertising partners.”
Rob Holmes, VP of Programming, Roku
Roku acquired TOH Intermediate Holdings, LLC, which owns the “This Old House” business, from TZP Group. The executive team of “This Old House” will join Roku, including CEO Dan Suratt, and the team behind the shows will continue creating the content that fans love. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
