With December here, it's officially the season for end-of-year recaps. Spotify Wrapped kicked off the trend, and services like Apple Music, Amazon Music, and YouTube have followed with their own takes. Now, Roku is joining in on the fun with its Roku Rewind 2025.
However, the most interesting stat Roku shared was that the average Roku household used about nine different streaming apps this year, and three of those were free to watch. In other words, a third of the content people streamed on Roku in 2025 came from FAST apps (free ad-supported television), rather than paid services like Netflix, Max, or Disney+. Considering Roku had 90 million users by the end of 2024, that's a huge number of people watching free TV.
I'm not surprised to see this shift at all. With streaming costs rising and services like Netflix, HBO Max, and Disney+ all raising prices this year, it makes sense that more people are turning to free options. Meanwhile, free streaming apps like Pluto TV, The Roku Channel, and Tubi keep growing, adding new channels and more on-demand movies.
Horror movies grew in popularity this year
Gen Z Roku users really like Anime
Roku also highlighted the genres users streamed most this year, noting that original horror films surged in popularity in 2025. The biggest driver was Sinners, which became the most-searched movie in the genre. Overall, Roku says searches for original horror titles were up 20 percent year over year.
Real-world events also influenced viewing habits. After Pope Leo XIV's election earlier this year, searches for Conclave surged -- especially in Chicago, his hometown -- where interest was 42 percent higher than the national average.
Viewers weren't just searching by title, either. Roku says Adam Sandler was the most-searched actor of 2025, boosted by Happy Gilmore 2, while Ariana Grande led actress searches thanks to Wicked.
Roku also shared some insight into Gen Z's viewing habits, noting that nearly two out of every three Roku searches from Gen Z users in 2025 were for animated content -- everything from anime and adult animation to animated films with "cult-like followings."
Sports continue to grow on Roku
Pro wrestling saw the largest growth
Sports are a major part of the Roku experience, and Roku says NFL teams were the most popular in the Roku Sports Zone in 24 of 50 states, especially across the Southwest and Southeast. Meanwhile, MLB teams dominated in the West and Northeast.
Beyond football and baseball, pro wrestling also saw a big surge. Roku says it was the fastest-growing sport on the platform in 2025, with searches up 275 percent, followed by auto racing at 75 percent and mixed martial arts at 69 percent.
Roku mainly centers its Roku Rewind 2025 on advertisers and what they can learn from streaming trends in 2025. So, if you start noticing more ads for pro wrestling or anime on your Roku TV, that might be why. It would be great if, in the future, streaming platforms like Roku offered an interactive experience similar to Spotify Wrapped, showing you your top shows and genres instead of just a recap with tips for advertisers. But at least it still includes some interesting stats. If you want to check out the full Roku Rewind 2025 yourself to see everything Roku shared, you can do so on Roku's website.