Kevin Hart’s Die Hart Becomes Roku’s First-Ever Original Series Renewal

A month after Roku began streaming the Roku Originals it acquired from shuttered streamer Quibi, the company has made its first-ever renewal. Roku has picked up a second season of Kevin Hart's Die Hart, from the comedian's Laugh Out Loud entertainment brand. Die Hart, which costars John Travolta, is one of more than 75 Quibi shows that Roku acquired in January; the platform debuted 30 of those titles May 20 on The Roku Channel, under the Roku Originals banner. Hart will return to star and executive produce in the second season, which will be called Die Harter. Season 1 became the most streamed opening weekend in Roku Channel history when it premiered last month. “That’s not to say that there hasn't been amazing performance across the board and all the originals,” Colin Davis, head of original scripted content, told Adweek. “We’re going to be very, very thoughtful about how we pursue future originals and seasons renewals. Die Hart, with that performance, we didn't have to think very hard.” Davis, the former Quibi comedy chief, joined Roku in March. “I’ve been able to see the validation of marrying really good shows and good content with a huge platform of engaged audiences,” he said. “From Season 1, this is what we could have dreamed of in terms of being able to reach an audience this big.” Season 2 will mark one of the first original productions created by Roku, following last week's debut of Roku Recommends from the company’s new branded content studio. Roku has not released any additional details on when the Die Harter will go into production, or when the second season is expected to arrive on the platform. 'It's not going to be designed for your phone' While Die Hart and the other Quibi content was produced for the short-lived streamer's mobile-only, platform options for future seasons have expanded since the programming has migrated to Roku. “It's not going to be designed for your phone; this is for a bigger screen,” said Davis. “At the same time, we’re not going to try and reinvent something that's already working. We're not necessarily confined to one version of how a creator wants to create, and as long as it makes sense for our business.” The Roku Channel is in the midst of a record growth year, now reaching an estimated 70 million people and growing at twice the rate of the overall Roku platform, and Rob Holmes, vp of programming, only expects that to continue with the Roku Originals. “It's allowed us to be more creative and expansive in the types of content that we're sourcing,” said Holmes. For Roku, Die Hart's early success has only solidified the company’s belief in its Quibi deal. “We’ve just seen phenomenal early results,” said Holmes, adding that the Quibi shows, now known as Roku Originals, have been popular with the adults 18-34 demo. “To launch Roku Originals and seeing the results that we’re seeing, particularly in being able to bring in that demographic, is really feeding that overall narrative for us,” said Holmes. “There was really a validation of that overall strategy when we did the acquisition. We’re super excited to be able to move forward with additional content like this as quickly as we can, just based on the performance that we're seeing, and we're obviously continuing to parse through the data and the performance to be able to continue to inform our strategy going forward.” The execs did not comment on when the other Roku Originals will roll out, though Holmes said the company is still seeing first time users discover the first wave of released content. “We're already seeing people finding things that maybe they didn't tune into the first time but just coming back to explore again. So, this is definitely a story that's going to evolve,” Holmes said. Why Brands Are Streamlining Their Approach to Streaming