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NBC begins distributing show clips through The Roku Channel

The Roku Channel will offer clips from NBC programs shortly after they air on television. (Screen capture by The Desk)
The Roku Channel will offer clips from NBC programs shortly after they air on television. (Screen capture by The Desk)

Comcast’s NBC Universal and streaming hardware maker Roku have struck a deal that will see clips from popular NBC programs distributed via the Roku Channel, the companies announced on Wednesday.

Starting this week, short-form clips from NBC’s late night shows “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” and “Late Night with Seth Meyers” and weekend sketch show “Saturday Night Live” became available through Roku’s free streaming service, with excerpts from NBC Sports programming launching in the coming weeks.



The clips will be available shortly after the programs air on NBC stations across the country, and are accessible through the Roku Channel and other parts of Roku’s streaming platform, the companies said.

"Late Night with Seth Meyers" is one of several NBC programs that will be distributed in abbreviated form through The Roku Channel. (Screen capture by The Desk)
“Late Night with Seth Meyers” is one of several NBC programs that will be distributed in abbreviated form through The Roku Channel. (Screen capture by The Desk)

“Roku is an important partner, bringing our leading entertainment and information to tens of millions of homes and broadening our footprint for our audiences and partners,” Matt Schnaars, the President of Content Distribution at NBC Universal. “With this launch, together we will be able to deliver even more of the content that people want with can’t-miss short-form clips, all from the top talent and brands within the NBC Universal family.”

“When everyone’s talking about that surprise guest on Weekend Update or last night’s hilarious late-night monologue, Roku users will be able to pull up the clip in no time and press play,” Gil Fuchsberg, the Senior Vice President of Subscriptions, Partnerships and Corporate Development at Roku, said on Thursday. “We’re thrilled to expand NBC Universal’s offering on Roku to include this continuously popular content, for our diverse audience approaching nearly half of U.S. broadband households.”

The deal builds on existing agreements that see Roku distribute certain NBC programming channels via Roku’s free, ad-supported service, as well as NBC content apps.

The linear NBC content streams available via the Roku Channel include:

  • NBC News NOW
  • Dateline 24/7
  • TODAY All Day
  • NBC LX Home
  • NBC and Telemundo local owned stations
  • The Rotten Tomatoes Channel
  • Saved by The Bell
  • American Crimes
  • Bravo Vault
  • E! Keeping Up
  • NBC GolfPass
  • Historias de Amor
  • Lassie
  • Made in Chelsea
  • Million Dollar Listing Vault
  • NBC Sports
  • Oxygen True Crime Archives
  • Real Housewives Vault
  • Sky News International
  • SNL Vault
  • The Long Ranger
  • Top Chef Vault
  • Murder, She Wrote
  • Alfred Hitchcock
  • Little House On The Prairie
  • Bad Girls Club
  • TNBC,
  • Universal Action
  • Universal Crime
  • Universal Monsters
  • Universal Westerns 

Additionally, Roku offers apps for NBC, NBC News, NBC Sports, Bravo, CNBC, E!, Oxygen, SyFy, Telemundo, USA Network and Peacock.

In February, Roku revealed it had around 80 million global monthly users. Data from Nielsen shows Roku’s free, ad-supported streaming channel — which is available on non-Roku devices, including those powered by Android TV (Google TV) and Amazon’s Fire TV — is available to around 120 million American television viewers.

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About the Author:

Matthew Keys

Matthew Keys is a nationally-recognized, award-winning journalist who has covered the business of media, technology, radio and television for more than 11 years. He is the publisher of The Desk and contributes to Know Techie, Digital Content Next and StreamTV Insider. He previously worked for Thomson Reuters, the Walt Disney Company, McNaughton Newspapers and Tribune Broadcasting.
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