Fox wants to control your TV — and the technology inside it

Fox is about to take over TV sets in over 100 million homes All over the world. Fox announced this on Monday It’s acquiring Rokuthe streaming medium that serves as a gateway for viewers to move on to services like Netflix, Disney Plus, Hulu, and more. The $22 billion deal may not change Roku’s familiar purple interface, but it could put Fox in control of your data behind the screen.

During a call with investors, Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch said the plan was to keep the two companies separate. Fox aims to grow its business by adding Fox Sports, news content and local stations to Roku – one of the most popular streaming devices and smart TV platforms. “I expect we will be able to grow our viewership in the U.S. through a combination of Roku’s technology, the Roku platform, the tremendous content that’s on the Roku Channel, and the content that Fox is bringing to it as well,” Murdoch said.

Roku founder and CEO Anthony Wood, who will have a role in the combined company after the deal closes in 2027, echoed that idea, saying the streaming platform would offer Fox content on His home screenwhich currently displays a large rectangular ad, as well as a rotating deck filled with suggested shows and movies. “Most of the elements on the home screen are personalized, meaning we decide what to show the customer based on what they are likely to see, what they are likely to buy,” Wood told investors. “Having more properties that generate more revenue — and being able to decide when to promote them and when not — will drive more revenue overall through the home screen.”

The multibillion-dollar deal may not result in a clear rebranding for Roku, but it may ring alarm bells for people paying attention to the recent wave of media acquisitions that has positioned the Trump-friendly company… The Ellison family is responsible for Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount, CBS Newsand, To some extent, TikTok. Lachlan Murdoch, from He took the reins at Fox And its Trump-allied news network last year, Also owns The Wall Street Journal Parent company “Under Trump, these deals have huge political implications that really need to be focused on,” says News Corp. CEO Jeff Chester. Center for Digital Democracya non-profit digital rights and consumer protection organization Edge. “Maybe people will get the message that this is not just a media deal, but an additional political alignment of American media assets into MAGA-friendly hands.”

Although Roku is known for its fleet of affordable streaming devices and TVs, it makes most of its money by selling ads through its platform and the commission it earns when people sign up for a premium streaming service through its interface. In April, Roku offered to crash of how much he earns from both sectors for the first time. It reported that it achieved profits of $613 million from advertising, while subscriptions amounted to $519 million during this quarter. “Fox is getting a lot in terms of this deal, in terms of distribution,” says Dan Rayburn, a streaming media analyst. EdgeAdding that Fox will also get “insight into all the data on what people are watching.”

Roku offers a limited amount of original content through The Roku Channel, Free ad-supported streaming service (FAST).which competes directly with Fox’s FAST service, Tubi. Despite the similarities between the two services, Murdoch told investors that a third of Tubi’s viewers overlap with people who watch The Roku Channel. “Put them together, (this) effectively triples the reach of the combined service,” Murdoch said. “It’s too early to say, but our expectation is to keep the services completely separate. They serve consumers or viewers in different ways.”

Roku is starting to go with paid subscriptions as well, charging $6.99 per month Live streaming servicefollowed by the launch of Howdy, which is cheaper Ad-free streaming subscription for $2.99 ​​per month. Meanwhile, Fox recently launched its own show Fox One streaming service and It also has a deal with Hulu For air shows like Family man and The Masked Singer On the platform. Through this deal, Roku can access premium content to place within its services.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if Roku now said, ‘Okay, well, now let’s take a look at some content that we think has been great for our platform, and we have the support to do that,'” Rayburn says.

As we saw with Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, Fox may not see much opposition from federal regulators. “In the US… I don’t think there will be any regulatory review,” Rayburn says, while casting doubt on an investigation from the European Union, where Roku and Fox have a smaller footprint. A hands-off approach by regulators could pave the way for the deal to close next year.