Fox buys Roku in blockbuster deal
Streaming power play would elevate Fox into the top five of most-streamed media distributors
Fox Corporation made a major streaming play on Monday, acquiring Roku, Inc. for $22 billion, or $160 per share in a stock-and-cash transaction, expected to close in the first quarter of 2027.
“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., said Fox Corporation CEO Lachlan Murdoch. “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. And we are executing this acquisition from a position of financial strength – maintaining our investment grade balance sheet while providing our shareholders with an uninterrupted return of capital program in the form of share buybacks and dividends. Roku pioneered streaming TV and scaled it into a leading CTV platform. Together, we intend to lead its next chapter.”
Fox is paying $96 a share and 0.97 shares of FOX Class A common stock for each Roku Class A and Class B share outstanding stock. Fox shareholders will own 73 percent of the company while Roku shareholders take 27 percent, and already approved by the boards of both companies. Fox is also accusing any debt Roku has, and took out a $12 billion loan to cover the acquisition. Roku founder and CEO Anthony Wood will join Fox’s Board of Directors and will have an ongoing role in the combined company.
The acquisition adds Roku to Fox’s portfolio, which includes Fox, FS1, FS2, Fox News, Fox Business, Big Ten Network, Fox’s owned-and-operated stations (including Chicago’s WFLD and WPWR), streaming service Fox One, and Tubi, a FAST (free advertising-supported television) portal that Fox plans to keep separate from Roku as it has a FAST portal of its own, The Roku Channel. Roku also has equipment you can plug in to your TV to watch those FAST channels and a wide variety of on-demand programming.
Fox is touting increased scale and reach, pointing out Roku’s availability in more than 100 million homes worldwide, including more than half of domestic broadband households. Fox also points out the Roku acquisition gives them an ever bigger footprint in the video ecosystem and the continued growth of connected TV (TV sets hooked up through broadband), and the advertising and subscription revenue benefits that come with it. This comes as Fox is airing the FIFA World Cup, which began Thursday and has the World Series this October and of course, NFL Football starting in two months.
According to Nielsen’s Gauge Meter for March 2026, Fox’s streaming properties accounted for 7.2 percent of TV viewing via distributor, while Roku Channel accounted for three percent (on a local note, Chicago’s Weigel Bradcasting had a 1.4 percent share.) Combined, Fox would have 10.2 percent, catapulting to third place behind Google’s YouTube and Disney:
Fox was one of the few who didn’t really have a strong streaming component outside of Tubi. Paramount has Paramount + and Pluto; Disney has ESPN Unlimited, Hulu, and Disney +; and NBCUniversal/Comcast has Peacock and Xumo Play, which teamed up with cable rival Charter to launch a set-top box to compete with Roku.
As soon as this transaction closes, you can expect to see more Fox content on your Roku device and on The Roku Channel, especially for Fox One. Both Fox and Roku say they will continue to operate the portal as a open, partner-friendly device, meaning yes, you can still use your Netflix, Amazon, and Disney + apps on your Roku device. Wall Street didn’t exactly like the news as Fox Corporation shares dropped fifteen percent in Monday trading.