In a surprise announcement on Monday, Fox Corporation has announced that it will acquire streaming giant Roku in a deal worth roughly $22 billion, paying somewhere in the region of $160 per share to take a controlling interest in the company. (Fox will own roughly 73% of the company once the dust settles.) Given the scale of the players, it’s a big deal — but one that might be difficult to understand for most. We’re here to break down what it means for you.

How important is Roku, anyway?

Despite the fact that it doesn’t get a lot of press surrounding this, Roku is a very big deal in terms of U.S. viewing: Roku doesn’t just power its own line of devices that allow televisions to stream content; it also licenses its technology to television manufacturers to allow TVs to become smart televisions. In total, around 100 million households are connected to the internet via Roku, with more than one-third of U.S. televisions using Roku. All in all, an estimated half of U.S. broadband households use the Roku interface in one form or another.

Additionally, Roku operates The Roku Channel, a streaming service that makes up about 3% of streaming viewing in the U.S., per Nielsen; that’s larger than AMC Networks and Hallmark, if you’re curious. (Amazon’s Prime Video is only around 3.8% for context.)

I’m a Roku customer - what’s going to change?

If Fox Corp. is to be believed, nothing is going to change as a result of this acquisition, with chairman and CEO Lachlan Murdoch saying in a press conference about the deal that “It is essential that Roku will remain an open and partner-friendly business,” as opposed to folding Roku and the Roku Channel in with Fox properties and licensing deals; instead, existing deals Roku has to offer apps and content will remain in place with Fox intending to “remain neutral” about such third party deals going forward. Additionally, the Roku brand will remain independent from Fox, with both companies able to “continue to serve their viewers in the way they do now,” per Murdoch.

One thing that might change, despite all of the above, is additional promotion of Fox properties on Roku, and perhaps increased access to sporting events via Fox’s existing deals. Both were left as possibilities by Murdoch, who admitted, “We weren’t focused particularly on sports rights in this transaction, but absolutely the combination of Fox and Roku we really think can expand the reach of all our premium content.”

Does this mean Disney owns Roku?

No, because it’s the other Fox Corporation that’s buying Roku in this deal. This is a point of confusion for many people. The Walt Disney Company bought elements of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire commonly known as Fox in 2019 — specifically, the movie and TV production companies, the cable entertainment channels, and Fox the television network — but a significant number of assets remained under Murdoch’s control, including Fox News, Fox Sports, Fox’s regional network television and radio stations, and the 20th Century Fox studio lot. Those assets were assembled into a new company, officially known as Fox Corporation. That is the company that is purchasing Roku. Disney is not attached to the deal at all.

What’s next?

The deal is not expected to close until early 2027. Before then, shareholders of both Fox and Roku need to approve the deal, and they’re not the only ones. The Department of Justice and other U.S. regulatory bodies need to sign off as well, meaning that there’s still a possibility that things fall apart — but as things currently stand, nothing seems to be standing in the way. Expect a Fox/Roku partnership by this time next year at the latest.

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