Fox buying Roku in $22 billion deal

Once again, the entertainment and broadcasting world has become a bit smaller. Fox Corp is buying Roku in a $22 billion deal that will give the media company access to Roku’s 100 million household install base. Fox shareholders will own around 73% of the company after closing, with the deal expected to close in the first half of 2027. Roku is the U.S. market leader in connected TV devices (hardware that lets users access streaming platforms like Netflix), and Fox is likely making the move to make up for cord-cutting, especially among younger viewers.

Roku was founded in 2002 and eventually launched the first connected TV device to stream Netflix in 2008. Since then, it’s largely earned revenue through advertising and channel subscriptions, resulting in around $4.74 billion in 2025.

With the acquisition, it wouldn’t be surprising if Fox put its own programming like Fox Sports and Fox News front-and-center, making it so that nearly a third of Americans are more likely to be blasted by Sean Hannity and co.’s drivel.

In 2023, Fox News paid Dominion Voting Systems nearly $800 million to avoid going to trial over its embarrassing coverage of the 2020 presidential election — the “news” outlet was at the forefront of baseless conspiracy theories that Dominion’s voting machines had been rigged against Donald Trump. It appears that despite the short-term dent in the company’s finances, Lachlan Murdoch’s media empire can still make big purchases.

Consolidation and massive mergers have become the norm for the media sphere. Paramount Skydance is currently in the process of acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery for around $111 billion. As it happens, Paramount is also now owned by a family (the Ellisons) with ties to the Trump administration — what a strange coincidence that these companies are making this move while they have a friend in the White House. On June 12, the U.S. Department of Justice approved Paramount’s purchase of Warner Bros., moving the company one step closer to the acquisition.