Unanswered questions about how Fox purchasing Roku will impact viewers
Unanswered questions about how Fox purchasing Roku will impact viewers
We break down all the unanswered questions viewers might have following this morning’s huge announcement.
The sleepy summer news cycle was awakened in a big way on Monday morning. After rumors began circulating over the weekend about Roku considering putting itself up for sale, it was announced that the streaming giant is officially being acquired by Fox in a deal worth $22 billion. The agreement will see Fox take control of Roku’s streaming services, smart TVs, streaming operating system, and physical device lines.
That probably leaves consumers with a ton of unanswered questions. We’ll fill you in on everything we know so far about what the Fox-Roku deal will mean for customers, and lay out some of the questions we’re most looking forward to hearing more about as the deal grows closer to closing.
What does Fox’s purchase of Roku mean for customers?
More Fox ads are coming to Roku
There’s one sure consequence of the Roku and Fox deal on the way for Roku owners: A large increase in the number of ads you see for Fox content is on the way. The Roku operating system has a ton of built-in ad placements — last year it angered owners by testing unskippable start-up ads on its devices.
Many more of those placements will soon be for Fox-owned streaming services like Fox One and Fox Nation, or content available on Fox channels, such as live sports offerings or primetime programming. Roku owners should gear up to start seeing a lot more Fox content prominently displayed on their devices’ interface, a changeover that will probably take place before the deal officially closes. In the grand scheme of things, while this will not present a tremendous impact on consumers’ viewing experience, it can represent a bit of a change in terms of the services and titles that they are exposed to, limiting the breadth of options they are on the lookout for.
Will Tubi and Roku Channel merge?
This is easily one of the biggest unanswered questions posed by the deal. The agreement will see three streaming services fall into Fox’s hands: the skinny live TV streaming service Frndly TV, the budget ad-free streamer Howdy, and the free ad-supported streamer The Roku Channel.
Since Fox already operates an immensely popular free streaming service in Tubi, I think the company will eventually merge its own free service with The Roku Channel. There are simply too many opportunities to eliminate redundancies and cut costs by merging the streamers, though Fox does risk confusing customers by putting an end to the well-known Roku Channel brand.
Fox will have to contend with the various contracts that Roku has for the content on its free streamer, and how they would be impacted by any such merger. If nothing else, it is likely that the platforms will both migrate over to the same tech stack — as we have seen Paramount working toward lately.
The real X-factor in a combination of Tubi and the Roku Channel is what kind of live sports the combined platform could offer. Fox has used Tubi as a showcase for events like the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the Super Bowl, and other marquee games before attempting to steer customers to paid Fox platforms to continue watching. Roku has made a marked effort to acquire sports properties in recent years, and has also created one-stop viewing hubs for fans to seek out games, scores, highlights, and more from their favorite sports.
Fox now adds all the live sports and hubs in Roku’s arsenal, and that gives it the opportunity to attract even more viewers to its paid platforms with targeted free offerings. Since Fox already owns a large NFL package, a ton of college football and basketball rights, MLB games, and more, it can use Roku platforms like The Roku Channel to its advantage in pulling more viewers into its ecosystem.
How will Fox handle other Roku streamers?
The acquisition of Roku will allow Fox to begin bundling its subscription streamers with Howdy and Frndly TV. I think a package combining Frndly TV with Fox Nation makes a huge amount of sense; Frndly TV already offers family-friendly and religious programming from Great American Family, Hallmark Channel, and other sources, and its audience will likely find plenty of historical and religious titles to enjoy in the Fox Nation catalog.
A bundle of Frndly TV and Fox One would also be logical, as it would allow viewers to combine the networks in the Frndly package with content from the Fox broadcast network, Fox News, Fox Business Network, and Fox Sports channels. I don’t imagine that Frndly would be exclusively integrated into Fox One — or any of Fox’s other streamers — since it still retains a solid user base looking for just the type of channels it offers. However, different types of bundles would make a lot of sense for Fox’s bottom line.
The fate of Roku’s ad-free streamer Howdy is also very much up in the air. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Tubi originals start streaming on Howdy without ads in the near future; Howdy already hosts Roku Channel originals sans commercials, and offering ad-free Tubi titles there would both fill out the Howdy catalog and drive more attention to Fox’s free streamer. At just $3 per month, I would expect to see Howdy folded into Tubi, especially if The Roku Channel also merges with Fox’s existing free streamer.
Will Hulu lose next-day Fox streaming content?
Fox has long had a deal with Disney to send next-day streams of primetime titles from the Fox broadcast network to Hulu, dating back to when the company owned 1/3 of the streamer. But that agreement will end in 2029, and when it does, it’s likely that Fox One will take over the duty of hosting on-demand content from Fox.
Will Roku get in on the game at all? I could see Fox using Roku platforms to drive more viewership for Fox primetime titles, just as I predicted it would for Fox Sports content. The Roku Channel could easily get a selection of older seasons of currently running Fox primetime shows to stream on demand with ads, and Howdy could be used to stream those same titles ad-free.
What will become of Roku’s physical devices?
Fox has never been involved in the equipment manufacturing business before, but its purchase of Roku means it will inherit a robust streaming device and smart TV-making business. My question is, will it want to keep that business as-is, or make changes?
I can see a world where Fox decides to spin off the manufacturing arm of Roku while keeping control of the Roku operating system in-house. That would allow it to shift the cost of making Roku smart TVs and streaming players off on other companies, while still collecting revenue from licensing the Roku OS.
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.