Roku acquired by Fox in $22 billion deal

Roku, with its Roku OS, Roku TVs and streaming sticks, will be acquired by Fox Corp, giving it access to over 100 million households, primarily in the Americas.

It is starting to look like a trend.

TV brands and TV platforms are being acquired by larger corporations seeking vertical integration; owning the TV platform, content and advertising systems. The $22 billion acquisition of Roku by Fox – pending regulatory approval in the first half of 2027 – follows Walmart's acquisition of Vizio in February 2024.


What it means
Roku released its first media player in 2008, having spun off from Netflix after the streaming company decided not to compete in hardware. At least in North America, Roku helped define the early days of streaming.

Today, Roku is primarily an advertising company, serving ads alongside streaming content from its own Roku Channel and partners such as Tubi, which Fox incidentally owns. Roku also provides access to Disney+, HBO Max, Apple TV, Netflix, YouTube and other partner streaming apps.

Despite the acquisition, the companies insist that Roku will continue to be run as an open platform for partners, but this position has already been somewhat weakened with the launch of The Roku Channel and other initiatives that bring Roku-owned content front and center on the homescreen.


Fox news and sports on Roku
As for Fox, it plans to bring its live news and sports content to the platform in a big way. Roku is the front door to more than 100 million homes.

- "This is a defining moment for Fox, and a natural extension of the deliberate and focused strategy we have been executing for nearly a decade. In 2019, we reoriented the company around live news and sports. In 2020, we acquired Tubi and under our stewardship it has become one of the most successful businesses in streaming. Today, we take the next step: bringing together the most valuable live content portfolio in video consumption with the preeminent streaming platform through which America watches it. This combination will transform the scope of our company into high-growth verticals and yield a step change in our overall growth profile," said Lachlan K. Murdoch, CEO of Fox Corp. "Roku pioneered streaming TV and scaled it into a leading CTV platform. Together, we intend to lead its next chapter."

If you are looking for alternatives to Roku, options include Amazon's Fire TV, Apple TV 4K (tvOS), Google TV, LG's webOS on smart TVs, Samsung's Tizen on smart TVs and others.

 Also see: Recommendations: Best TVs, TV audio & media players