Roku signs deal to stream baseball games
DIGITAL: MLB content added to Amazon Video On Demand, Netflix
By Danny King -- Video Business, 8/11/2009
AUG. 11 | DIGITAL: Roku set-tops are ready to play ball.
Roku, whose set-top boxes let Amazon.com and Netflix customers play digitally delivered movie and TV titles on their TV sets, reached an agreement that will allow subscribers of Major League Baseball’s Web site to watch more ball games on TV.
MLB.TV premium subscribers who have the $99 Roku box will be able to watch live games from across the country as well as have access to certain games aired during the previous week, closely held Roku said in a statement yesterday. Some of the games on Roku also will be available in high-definition, Roku said. Major League Baseball’s cable-television network was launched this year.
Roku is looking to boost demand for its set-top boxes by making deals with other content providers. Last month, Roku said it would add a channel dedicated to Mediafly podcasts, giving users access to more than 25,000 free audio and video podcasts. Chicago-based Mediafly already provides these podcasts to mobile users with devices such as Apple’s iPhone and Research in Motion’s BlackBerry.
Amazon began streaming its digital movie and TV titles through Roku set-top boxes in March, following through on an agreement that was signed in January. Roku’s set-top boxes last year were the first components Netflix used to make its video-streaming titles playable directly on TVs.
