BY J. CLARA CHAN | HollywoodReporter.Com

Streaming hours decreased by 1 billion compared to the previous quarter.

Roku added 1.5 million active accounts in the second quarter of this year for a total of 55.1 million active users, according to the company’s latest quarterly earnings, showing a slight decline in growth compared to the pandemic-fueled surge seen last year.

Net revenue reached $645 million for the quarter, with profit totaling $338 million. But player gross profit fell into the negatives, costing the company $6.7 million and representing a 180 percent decrease year over year. Total streaming hours fell behind the previous quarter by 1 billion hours for a total of 17.4 billion hours.

“Consumers sought increased out-of-home entertainment activities (such as dining and travel) in Q2 as a result of pent-up demand and the loosening of COVID-19 restrictions, which led to a broader secular decline in overall TV viewing hours,” Roku said in a letter to shareholders.

During a call with reporters on Wednesday, Roku CFO Steve Louden said he “expected” streaming hours to decline as overall viewership for both linear TV and streaming has fallen in the past year. But average streaming hours for active accounts amounted to 3.5 hours per day, which Louden said was “similar” to Roku’s pre-COVID levels.

“Certainly there’s a kind of a tough [comparison] there against the surge we saw in both active accounts and streaming hours last year when the lockdowns first occurred,” Louden said.

Roku also noted in its shareholder letter that monetized ad impressions doubled year over year but did not disclose any specific breakdowns regarding ad revenue — an area where most major tech companies have seen significant growth for the quarter.

As for Roku’s acquisition of the Quibi library, which have since been rebranded as Roku Originals, Roku’s Scott Rosenberg said the company was “very pleased” with the performance, noting the eight Emmy nods the shows received.

“It has taught us something and what resonates with our users broadens our appeal and brought in a lot of first time viewers as well as informing what we choose to greenlight,” Rosenberg told reporters ahead of the company’s earnings call with investors.