To my knowledge, adult channels have never been officially offered on Roku. I'm referring to channels such as Pornhub and others along that line. They've always been offered as a private channel, and Roku has always stated that private channels can be removed at any time.
However, I don't think that's the exact issue. I believe that Roku is doing away with all private channels, not just ones that might be labeled adult. It is difficult to enforce providers serving content legally if the channels are outside their distribution channel. In some ways, it's no different than the way Apple controls the content available on their devices.
I looked back into my emails that I get from Roku, because I did sign up to be a channel developer at one time just to try my hand. This is one of the emails I received. I only copied a portion of the email, but it explains what's probably happening:
In October, Roku announced the sunsetting of non-certified channels, which will occur on February 23, 2022. We wanted to remind you that when the sunset occurs, all non-certified channels will be disabled across all Roku devices. This means that after February 23rd, 2022:
- Users will no longer be able to install or launch non-certified channels.
- Unpublished channels can no longer be installed via a vanity access code.
- All non-certified channels will be removed from the Developer Dashboard.
Dan
Roku Community Streaming Expert
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