Amazon Alum Jeff Blackburn Joins Roku Board

Jeff Blackburn, who spearheaded Amazon’s push into video, has joined Roku’s board of directors.

The election of Blackburn at Roku’s annual shareholder meeting represents an expansion of Roku’s board, an upsizing signaled by the streaming company last April.

“Jeff’s extensive experience in digital media and technologies makes him a great addition to our board of directors,” Roku founder and CEO Anthony Wood said.

Blackburn said he was pleased to be joining the board “at such a pivotal time in the industry as more entertainment continues to move to TV streaming.”

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Until February of this year, Blackburn was Amazon’s SVP of Global Media & Entertainment, overseeing Prime Video, Amazon Studios, MGM, Music, Audible, Games and Twitch.  From 2012 to 2020, he was SVP of Worldwide Business Development, Advertising and Entertainment. 

Prior to joining Amazon, Blackburn worked in investment banking at Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank.

Roku has hit some turbulence during a difficult economy, particularly with the slowdown in advertising and tangles in the industrial supply chain, which has hampered delivery of its connected devices, sound bars and smart TVs. In April, the company reported a 1% year-to-year uptick in revenue as net losses widened. A high-flier during the pandemic as streaming exploded, Roku has seen its stock come back to earth since mid-2021, but shares have surged more than 70% in 2023 to date, far surpassing gains in the benchmark S&P 500. The stock jumped Wednesday after a report in the Wall Street Journal that Amazon is mulling an ad-supported tier of Prime Video, adding even more momentum to the streaming ad business, which has seen Disney and Netflix also jump in over the past few months.

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