DOJ looking more closely at Fox purchase of Roku
DOJ looking more closely at Fox purchase of Roku
The government has requested more information about the transaction to ensure it violates
Fox made huge headlines in June when it announced a $22 billion deal to purchase Roku and all of its assets. The deal has been moving through the regulatory process but has hit a snag; new reporting indicates that the Department of Justice is taking a closer look to ensure the potential mega-deal does not violate antitrust laws.
Key Details:
- Closer look: The DOJ is widening its inquiry into Fox’s acquisition of Roku.
- Caution warranted: The deal has wide implications for how viewers access their streaming content.
- Stay separate: Fox has said it anticipates operating Roku as a separate business.
Semafor was first to report that the Justice Department was widening its antitrust inquiry into the Fox and Roku deal. The DOJ is planning to seek more information through what’s known as a “second request,” another round of document-sharing by the two companies.
The request is not necessarily a sign that the merger is in trouble, but it does indicate that the DOJ needs more clarity on how the deal would affect consumers before giving it the green light. There are plenty of potential downsides to the merger, some of which have been eloquently elucidated by The Streamable’s Adam Zeis.
Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch has said that he expects to run Roku and his own company as separate businesses if the merger goes through. But those assurances on their own have apparently not persuaded the DOJ that the combination of Roku and Fox doesn’t have the potential for adverse effects on the marketplace and consumers.
The DOJ may be trying to demonstrate that it won’t simply greenlight any business deals involving allies of President Trump, such as the Murdoch family. The department faced criticism after what some felt was a too-fast approval of the Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery merger, given Trump’s close ties to Paramount CEO David Ellison and his billionaire father Larry. A closer investigation into Roku and Fox’s merger could be a way to try to demonstrate its independence.
The purchase of Roku by Fox would bring The Roku Channel and the Roku operating system under Fox’s control. That would give Fox a massive advertising platform, as well as a place to prioritize the distribution of its own streamers Fox One, Fox Nation, and Tubi. Recent data from Parks Associates shows that 43% of U.S. internet households have a Roku device as their most-used streaming player, and that kind of reach would be a clear boon to Fox if the deal closes.
Roku Channel
The Roku Channel is a free, ad-supported streaming service that offers a broad mix of movies, TV shows, live linear channels, and original programming. Available to all viewers — not just Roku device owners — the service features licensed content from major studios alongside Roku Originals, which include exclusive series, movies, and specials previously produced for Quibi, as well as new original projects developed specifically for the platform.