Fox is making its boldest streaming play yet, announcing a deal to acquire Roku for roughly $22 billion. The transaction will combine one of the biggest line‑ups of sports, news and entertainment content with one of the world’s most popular streaming platforms.
Under the terms, Fox will pay Roku shareholders a mixture of cash and stock, valuing the business at $160 per share. The acquisition is slated to close in the first half of 2027, subject to regulatory clearance and customary closing conditions.
Why own a show when you own the screen?
The purchase marks a major pivot for Fox, which has been rebuilding around live programming and ad‑supported streaming ever since it sold much of its entertainment assets to Disney. Its biggest streaming triumph so far has been Tubi, the free‑to‑watch service it bought in 2020 for $440 million, now serving over 100 million monthly users. Adding Roku gives Fox direct entry to a connected‑TV ecosystem that reaches more than 100 million streaming households worldwide, including Roku’s operating system, devices, ad business, viewer‑data capabilities and The Roku Channel.
Fox has said Roku will stay an open platform, meaning rival services and content partners won’t be shut out. The company also confirmed that Roku founder and CEO Anthony Wood will stay involved after the deal closes and will join Fox’s board.
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The acquisition comes at a pivotal moment for Roku. After years of prioritising growth over profit while battling giants such as Amazon, Google, Samsung and Apple, Roku recently reported its first full year of profit, posting a net income of $88.4 million on $4.74 billion of revenue in 2025. That turnaround likely made it a more attractive target. Roku helped shape the streaming‑device category long before smart TVs became ubiquitous, yet it remained independent while much of the media‑tech landscape consolidated.
Fox believes the combination will markedly boost its standing in the TV market, estimating the merged entity would become the third‑largest TV player in the United States by viewership share. The financial logic is clear: Fox expects hundreds of millions of dollars in annual cost savings, plus new advertising and revenue opportunities from pairing Roku’s platform reach with Fox’s content library. For viewers, nothing should change immediately, but behind the scenes one of streaming’s longest‑running independent successes is gearing up for a new chapter— and Fox is betting billions that the future of television will be built as much on distribution as on content.