Roku recently announced that Direct Publisher has been deprecated and it will be sunset early next year.

Beginning July 2023, Direct Publisher will no longer be available to create new channels, and beginning January 2024, all existing Direct Publisher channels will be removed from the Roku platform.

Originally announced in 2016, Direct Publisher was a tool that allowed media content owners to launch and maintain Roku channels without having to develop the corresponding apps and without using any programming language.

The decision to discontinue Direct Publisher has been made in order to streamline the Roku OS and expedite new platform features, as reported by Roku.

Several service providers and media platforms relied on Direct Publisher to create different levels of integration with Roku, covering content hosting, feed creation and monetization. One of the most popular examples was Vimeo, with its "Showcase" service which used Direct Publisher to integrate with Roku for its TV apps feature.

Roku is now encouraging publishers to migrate their existing Direct Publisher channels to SDK/SceneGraph channels to ensure uninterrupted service for their viewers. If you have an existing Roku channel that relies on Direct Publisher, or if you are using a service provider which is in turn based on Direct Publisher for its integration with Roku, it's important to evaluate your options and to make plans for a transition as soon as possible.

If you are interested in evaluating an all-in-one solution with Roku Channel Hosting, Streaming and Bandwidth included, backed by over 10 years of experience in the video streaming business, check out our Roku integration link, or reach out to us and we'll be glad to help you with any questions you may have based on your specific case.