Roku remains the most popular streaming platform in the United States, but a new survey from Horowitz Research suggests its users are far from the most satisfied. The findings, published shortly after Fox announced a $22 billion acquisition of the company, indicate that Roku trails its main rivals across almost every measure of user experience, raising questions about how well it can retain viewers as competition intensifies.

Roku leads the market with nearly 40 per cent of US streaming platform users, comfortably ahead of Amazon Fire TV and Samsung Smart Hub, which both sit below 30 per cent. However, it did not top any individual category in the survey: it fell behind Fire TV on ease of finding content, lag time, casting and ad experience, and behind Samsung on Wi-Fi connectivity and reliability, with both rivals beating it on start-up speed and smart home integration. The lower-share Apple TV and Google TV also outperformed Roku in the areas studied. Horowitz's Adriana Waterston warned that Roku must refine its interface to meet the demands of Gen Z, who expect a highly personalised, tech-forward experience, and cautioned that its Ads Manager risks over-saturating viewing with repetitive, low-quality adverts.