Roku rejig ups David Eilenberg to content head, with Rob Holmes to exit

Die Hart

David Eilenberg has been promoted to head of content at Roku Media, with the current VP of programming, Rob Holmes, to exit the streamer in March.

Roku Originals and Roku Studios will now both fall under Eilenberg, who joined the company in April to serve as head of original programming, previously reporting to Holmes.

David Eilenberg

Prior to Roku, Eilenberg led creative strategy for ITV America, overseeing production labels including ITV Entertainment, Leftfield Pictures, Sirens Media, Thinkfactory Media, High Noon Entertainment and Good Caper Content.

Holmes, meanwhile, spent around six years at the company, helping to oversee the launch of the Roku Channel as well as the acquisition of around 70 shows from defunct shortform streamer Quibi in 2021 that it then branded as Roku originals. The company has since extended a number of them, including Die Hart, into second seasons.

Holmes, who held roles at Comcast and NBCUniversal prior to Roku, will spend his remaning weeks with the company working alongside president Charlie Collier on “strategic projects that deserve dedicated care.”

Eilenberg’s promotion and Holmes’ exit are the first major changes in leadership since former Fox Entertainment CEO Collier took the helm in October, with Eilenberg to now report directly to Collier.

“Rob has been instrumental in Roku’s growth. He led The Roku Channel from concept to launch including hiring an awesome team, evangelising about Roku and The Roku Channel to early content partners, moving Roku into originals and setting a great foundation for future growth, with the channel still delivering record numbers and growing,” said Collier.

Martha Gardens

Cut-back context

Earlier this month, Roku reported more than 70 million active accounts globally, adding almost 10 million on the previous year. However, these figures come at a tumultuous time for Roku, which has felt the impact of the US economic downturn and let go 200 employees in the US – around 5% of its overall staff – near the end of last year.

Roku’s growth in recent years has seen it expanding into original content for its dedicated Roku Channel, with show launches in the last year including titles such as cooking competition The Great American Baking Show, the Martha Stewart hosted gardening show Martha Gardens, and culinary series Emeril Cooks, as well as exclusive content such as The Rich Eisen Show.

Last year, Roku signed a major content deal with Lionsgate to fuel The Roku Channel. The multi-year theatrical output deal sees Lionsgate films make their way to The Roku Channel following their first window on Starz. The agreement includes titles such as John Wick 4, Borderlands, Expendables 4 and The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.