Fox is taking over Roku City

By this time next year, Fox Corporation CEO Lachlan Murdoch intends to have added Roku to his already expansive media empire. Should the acquisition go through, Fox will gain control of Roku’s modest library of original programming, and the newly combined company will become “the third-largest player in U.S. television” in terms of viewing share. But the most significant thing that Murdoch buys with this deal is direct access to the 100 million households that make up Roku’s user base.

It’s precisely because Roku and Fox are very different kinds of companies that a merger between the two could have a major impact on our modern media landscape. Murdoch has a vested interest in putting a positive spin on the situation — the platform will remain “open” and “partner friendly,” per the announcement — but it’s very much another instance of corporate consolidation that will reshape what consumers watch, perhaps without them ever realizing it.

Fox’s desire to acquire Roku makes a lot of sense when you recall how long Murdoch has been trying to establish a solid presence in the streaming wars. In 2020, Fox bought the free, ad-supported streaming (FAST) platform Tubi, and last year, the company launched its own dedicated subscription service focused on news and live sports. Following news of the deal, Murdoch told investors that he plans to keep Fox and Roku running as two separate entities. The Roku Channel (Roku’s signature FAST service) might not wind up being folded into Tubi, but Murdoch has designs to turn Roku into a doorway to all things Fox.

Both Murdoch and Roku founder, chairman, and CEO Anthony Wood have made it clear that Fox-branded content will be more prominently featured on Roku’s homepage after the acquisition. Wood told investors that “promoting Fox-owned and operated properties on the Roku homescreen” is a key component of the companies’ plan to increase profits. Murdoch added that he expects Roku’s viewership to grow in the US specifically because of Fox content’s presence on the service. Films and series produced by other companies won’t disappear entirely from the platform because the sheer breadth of Roku’s current library is a core part of its appeal to consumers. But it feels more than likely that Fox Sports and Fox News will be some of the very first things people see whenever they interact with Roku’s tech.

The beauty of Roku as it currently exists is its overall simplicity compared to its competitors. When you open the Roku app, it presents you with a small selection of top picks, a list of other streaming services you can access through Roku, and one large ad — all of which makes it feel like the interface is gently trying to help you find things to watch. But during their investor call, Murdoch and Wood stressed that they want to generate more ad revenue from Roku’s homescreen by featuring more of Fox’s content. And that kind of push could effectively turn Roku into a place that feels more attuned to its owner’s conservative politics.

Murdoch is trying to do something different with Roku, whose value lies in its infrastructure and consumer viewing data as opposed to the films and series it makes. Murdoch can’t exactly strong-arm competitors like Apple and Amazon into putting out programming that aligns with his political views. And removing other companies’ subscription services from Roku would push consumers away to alternative streaming devices. Instead, it seems as if Murdoch wants to use Roku’s digital real estate to expose Fox’s content to as large an audience as possible. It’s hard to imagine every single Roku user suddenly becoming a Fox News obsessive, but more people will watch it if the platform makes that programming more easily accessible.

This particular scenario — millions of viewers casually consuming Fox content simply because it’s been served up to them — feels plausible because of how thoroughly Roku has already cemented itself in the streaming space. People didn’t buy their Roku-enabled televisions thinking that they were inviting the Fox Corporation into their home. But that’s exactly how all of this is going to shake out if Murdoch gets his way. Given Murdoch’s ties to Trump and this administration’s commitment to pushing the media toward the right, it seems like Roku will soon be a Fox company. And while consumers might not be able to do anything to prevent the deal, there are still other streaming platforms they can jump to.