Well, that was fast.
After rumors of a potential Roku acquisition began swirling late last week, FOX has officially agreed to acquire Roku in a transaction valued at approximately $22 billion.
The deal brings together FOX’s portfolio of live sports, news, and entertainment content with Roku’s CTV platform, first-party data, and reach across more than 100 million households globally.
Once the deal closes, the combined company would create one of the largest streaming and TV businesses ever, bringing together Tubi, The Roku Channel, and Roku’s operating system and adtech platform. FOX said Roku will continue to operate as an open platform post-deal.
Why This Matters:
For Roku, the deal offers up a path forward after years of pressure to turn its audience and platform into more growth and profitability. It also gives them access to a deep library of premium content and one of the strongest live sports and news portfolios in media.
For FOX, buying Roku accelerates its long-term push into streaming and CTV advertising. Instead of relying primarily on content and distribution partnerships, FOX now gets direct access to Roku’s platform, data, home screen real estate, and ad/adtech infrastructure. Big win for them.
More broadly, the deal highlights the ongoing convergence of media ownership and adtech that we’ve seen over the last few years. As streaming matures, scale increasingly comes from controlling both premium content and the platforms audiences use to access it. Case in point — this deal.
Experts React:
In the press release announcing the deal, FOX CEO Lachlan Murdoch described the acquisition as a “defining moment” for the company, meanwhile Roku CEO Anthony Wood said the combination would help Roku “scale faster and innovate more aggressively for viewers, partners and advertisers.”
Our Take:
The deal makes sense for both companies, of course. Roku gets an exit and FOX gets a big CTV asset. But from an adtech perspective, though, it feels like this was a missed opportunity for a company like AppLovin or Meta (though you have to wonder if the latter would’ve been able to get a deal done).
