First Apple TV+ made its original programming free to watch during the first weekend in January. The streamer’s effort to woo potential new subscribers continues with its latest promotion: it’s showcasing one of its most acclaimed series—Severance, which returns for its long-awaited second season next week—for a limited time free on the Roku Channel.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Roku announced today that season one of Severance will be available on the Roku Channel through January 19, part of an “exclusive fan experience” (which sounds both sincere and like a reference to Severance‘s infamous, in-universe “music dance experience”). The trade further notes “in addition to the first season, Roku Channel will get a preview of season two of the Adam Scott-starring thriller, as well as behind-the-scenes content. Users will also be eligible for three free months of Apple TV+.” (No additional details were provided on the “three free months” offer, but presumably becoming a paid subscriber would be a part of that.)
Putting season one of Severance on the Roku Channel, and making it directly accessible from the platform’s home screen at that, actually makes a lot of sense; as THR points out, Roku has an enormous reach with its 90 million users and is “one of the biggest free streaming video platforms on the market.” According to an IndieWire report in March 2024, Apple TV+ does not share subscriber numbers, though outside estimates have it at around 25 million. (Netflix, by contrast, had over 260 million at the time of the IndieWire article.)
So really, it’s a win-win-win-win situation: a win for Roku to be hosting season one of Severance; a win for Apple TV+ to get way more people hooked on Severance ahead of its new season and become subscribers; a win for Severance to expand its fan base; and a win for viewers, because Severance—a dystopian, deeply original, mystery-driven office drama about a world where employees’ home lives and work lives are medically separated, with chaotic results—is one of the best shows out there right now.
Severance comes from director and executive producer Ben Stiller, and creator, writer, and exec producer Dan Erickson. It has won Emmy and Peabody awards, and stars Adam Scott, Britt Lower, Tramell Tillman, Zach Cherry, Jen Tullock, Michael Chernus, Dichen Lachman, John Turturro, Christopher Walken, and Patricia Arquette. Season two kicks off January 17 on Apple TV+.
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