Fox-Roku deal cleared as company puts creators at heart of streaming plans

Fox’s $22 billion acquisition of Roku has secured clearance from the US Department of Justice – paving the way for the company to expand its streaming business and push further into creator-led entertainment.

The antitrust regulator said on Friday that it had closed its investigation after concluding that the deal was unlikely to substantially harm competition.

Central to its decision was the expectation that new free, ad-supported streaming providers would enter the market in a way that was “timely, likely, and sufficient” to offset the competition lost between Fox-owned Tubi and The Roku Channel.

Both services offer viewers free access to films and television shows in exchange for watching adverts.

The DOJ did not publicly identify which providers it expects to enter the market.

The department also examined whether Fox could use Roku's connected-TV platform, which reaches more than 100 million households worldwide, to favour its own streaming services over rivals. Roku also manufactures streaming devices.

To address those concerns, Fox agreed to keep rival content available for at least three years, avoid favouring its own services in search results or interfering with users' app choices, and offer advertising data to competitors on fair commercial terms. It also committed to protecting rivals' sensitive information.

The acquisition gives Fox access to Roku's distribution network, allowing it to expand the reach of its programming and strengthen its advertising business.

And Fox has wasted no time putting those plans into motion.

‘Top destination’ for digital content

Fox has already begun shuffling the decks, announcing a leadership shake-up and restructuring its digital business following the acquisition.

Among the departures is Tubi chief executive Anjali Sud, who is leaving after three years in the role. Mike Bidgoli, who has led Tubi's product and engineering teams, will take over as president.

Pete Distad, chief executive of FOX Direct-to-Consumer, will add Tubi and subscription streaming service Frndly TV to his responsibilities alongside FOX One. Lisa Holme, head of content for The Roku Channel, will also report to Distad and work with Tubi's programming team to coordinate content investments.

In a further indication of its digital media ambitions, Fox has renamed Tubi Media Group as FOX Digital Platforms, bringing Roku, Tubi, FOX One and Red Seat Ventures into the division.

FOX Digital Platforms co-chairs Paul Cheesbrough and Roku founder Anthony Wood outlined five priorities for the business in an internal memo to staff, including a goal to “be a top destination for movies, TV shows, podcasts and creator content”.

The memo also singled out Red Seat Ventures, which helps established creators develop shows and build media businesses around their audiences. Executives described it as “growing quickly in the creator economy, with two shows currently in YouTube’s top five”.

Sud's departure follows a period of growth at Tubi. In a farewell post, she said the service had reached 110 million active users watching more than one billion hours of content each month. Annual revenue had more than doubled to exceed $1 billion, and the business was now profitable.

She also highlighted Tubi's work to build a bridge to Hollywood for creators, a direction she expects the Roku acquisition to accelerate.

“The strategy is working, the flywheel is flying, and Roku will only add fuel to the fire,” she wrote.