• by Alex Weprin , November 1, 2018

Roku is beefing up its live news offerings on its Roku Channel, ahead of the midterm elections. The company is adding live and linear news content from Verizon’s Oath media unit, starting Nov. 1.

Within The Roku Channel, users will be able to select “Yahoo” to access content from Yahoo News, Yahoo Finance, Yahoo Sports, HuffPost, Makers and RYOT, spanning a number of categories.

As with other content providers for The Roku Channel, Yahoo’s offering will be free and ad-supported.

Rob Holmes, vice president, programming and engagement, Roku, says “news is one of the most popular categories in The Roku Channel.”  Oath’s media properties give Roku viewers more news options.

Roku Channel currently offers Cheddar, ABC News Live and PeopleTV as part of its live news offerings.

Roku launched The Roku Channel in late 2017, bundling acquired movies and TV shows with some content from partners into one ad-supported offering. While it initially launched exclusively on rook devices, earlier this year. the company started making it available on other platforms, including the web and smart TVs.

Oath has been investing more into live video, including multiple business shows under the Yahoo Finance brand, and live election night coverage from HuffPost and Yahoo News.