Fox acquires Roku for $22B to dominate smart TV advertising

Fox Corporation has agreed to acquire Roku Inc. for $22 billion ($160 per share), combining Fox's broadcast networks (Fox, Fox News, FS1) and its FAST platform Tubi with Roku's streaming hardware business, Roku OS, and The Roku Channel. Roku's platform reaches 100 million households, and its advertising and subscriptions business generated $584 million gross profit in Q1 2026, far outweighing hardware losses of $19 million. The merger positions the combined entity as the third-largest US TV distributor by viewing share, behind YouTube and Disney.

The deal provides Fox with a direct pipeline for ad sales and user tracking through Roku's operating system, which carries significant advertising inventory. Roku gains scale to sustain profitability, which it only regained in 2025 after a pandemic-era peak. Fox will fund the acquisition with $8 million in debt and expects $400 million in cost synergies. Roku CEO Anthony Wood will join Fox's board. The acquisition is subject to regulatory and shareholder approval, expected to close in the first half of 2027, marking another major consolidation in the increasingly competitive streaming landscape.