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ZDNET's key takeaways
- Roku's Howdy streaming service is just $3 a month.
- It includes a solid mix of movies and TV shows, but nothing new.
- The service will soon add content from Disney and Warner Bros.
If you're looking to save a little money on your streaming budget, there's an option you might not know about that's only $3 a month. And that option is about to get even more content, including Disney movies.
Alongside its pretty robust free live TV offerings, Roku launched a premium streaming service last fall called Howdy. The service offers a decent selection of TV shows and movies, but the real appeal is the price of just $3 a month for ad-free viewing.
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When the service debuted, Roku CEO Anthony Wood acknowledged that the content library might not rival other services, and Howdy was designed to “complement, not compete with, premium services.” The content on Howdy might not include the newest shows and movies, but after taking a look, I think Howdy has enough to stand on its own, especially for a month or two.
What's on Howdy?
When I took a look for the first time, I was pleasantly surprised. On the film front, I didn't see many movies from the past five years, but I did see plenty of rom-coms, 90s and early 2000s comedies, a decent number of kids' movies, and more. TV shows were a little more recent, with most of the choices from 2000 to 2020. I found shows like Nip/Tuck, Longmire, Iron Chef, The Conners, and Nurse Jackie, a good mix of sitcoms, medical dramas, and lesser-known shows.
The catalog is about to get better though, as Howdy recently announced a new library licensing deal with Sony Pictures, a deepened partnership with Warner Bros. (including titles from the studio's 2025-2026 theatrical slate), and a new content licensing agreement with Disney that will bring a rotating selection of films each month. Right now, Warner Bros. and Disney content streams on the HBO Max and Disney+ services, both significantly more expensive.
What's available here indeed doesn't rival Netflix or Amazon Prime, but again, neither does the price. I think you could absolutely skip a few months of the more pricey services for Howdy, and with the new content that's coming on board, maybe even stick around.
For now, Howdy is only available on the Roku platform, but the company says support for additional platforms and a mobile version is coming soon.
