Fox Corp. announced that it will acquire the streaming service Roku for $ 22 billion, with the deal expected to close by 2027.
Almost everyone knows the Fox Broadcasting Corporation for myriad reasons: some tied to watching reruns of The Simpsons, some to watching the Super Bowl, and some more political. But today, the major broadcasting company announced it will buy out Roku in a deal that values the streaming platform at $22 billion. Fox noted it agreed to acquire Roku for $160.00/share in a combination of cash and the company’s Class A common stock, which is how they reached that valuation. The companies are expected to close the deal by the first half of 2027, as reported by Variety.
So what does this mean, in general? The deal would essentially combine Fox’s sports, news, and entertainment content with the Tubi service and Roku’s connected TV platform, the Roku Channel. What does this mean to the consumers? Well, it could mean that Roku users may see more Fox advertising on the platform. This could feature the broadcasting company’s sports coverage on the front page or in the content carousel, or add Fox entertainment shows that are not already on Roku. Many Smart TVs now come with Roku built in, but this should not drastically change how users interact with the platform unless Fox calls for a complete overhaul that reinforces its agenda.
The two companies shared that they are “committed to continuing to operate Roku as an open, partner-friendly platform” and to the continued “ubiquitous” distribution of Fox content. Roku’s founder, chairman and CEO, Anthony Wood, was said to have an ongoing role at the combined company and will join the broadcast company’s board following the close of the transaction. The combined companies are set to become the third-largest player in U.S. TV by viewing share. The two above them would be YouTube and Netflix.
Roku’s origins date back to 2002, when it was one of the first companies to enter the streaming-device space. It has gone up against tech giants like Amazon, Google, Samsung and Apple for both streaming competition and market shares. The company, after years of struggling to achieve profitability, reported its first full-year profit for 2025, with net income of $88.4 million on revenue of $4.74 billion (up 15% year over year). As of the end of March, Roku had $1.65 billion in cash and equivalents on its balance sheet and no debt.
Executive chair and CEO of Fox, Lachlan Murdoch, called it “a defining moment” for his company. As most people know, Fox sold 21st Century Fox assets to Disney back in 2019—a glorious moment for Marvel fans, as The X-Men could now be part of the MCU. This also meant more content went to Disney+. However, this left Fox Corp. focusing on live news and sports, as well as regular broadcast TV.
Then, in 2020, the company acquired Tubi for $440 million. While Tubi has seen more than 100 million monthly users with its free model, it was not anything for Fox to brag about in the streaming space. With Roku, they can really compete now. Time will tell whether users care who owns their streaming device, or whether the broadcasting company will make its intended profits.
