Roku said it acquired TOH Holdings, the owner of the This Old House business, from TZP Group as its ad-supported streaming platform continues to grow.
The acquisition includes distribution rights and digital assets of This Old House and Ask This Old House and their television production studio. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The current seasons of This Old House and Ask This Old House will continue to stream on The Roku Channel after they air on PBS. The show will also continue to appear on cable with Discovery.
The moves follow Roku’s acquisition of programming from Quibi, the short-form mobile programming service that failed to attract subscribers last year. Roku also on Friday launched its first exclusive show, Cypher.
“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,” said Rob Holmes, VP of programming at Roku.
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“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,” he said.
This Old House has long been underwritten on PBS by The Home Depot.
This Old House and Ask this Old House were the two top-rated home improvement shows in America in 2020.
“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,” said Holmes.
Holmes said he expected that future seasons of This Old House would follow the same distribution strategy.
“The passion of the craftspeople on This Old House is matched only by its viewers, and we take great pride that over the past four decades we have helped them improve their most valuable asset — their home,” said Dan Suratt, CEO, This Old House Ventures. “Roku is not only the No. 1 TV streaming platform in America, it also represents the future of TV, and we could not think of a better home for This Old House to grow and to continue its leadership position in the home improvement genre.”
Suratt and the rest of the executive team working on This Old House will join Roku.
