{"id":1664702,"date":"2026-06-17T13:20:02","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T17:20:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/observer.com\/?p=1664702"},"modified":"2026-06-17T14:21:46","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T18:21:46","slug":"lachlan-murdoch-fox-streaming-roku-acquisition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/observer.com\/2026\/06\/lachlan-murdoch-fox-streaming-roku-acquisition\/","title":{"rendered":"Lachlan Murdoch Pushes Fox Deeper Into Streaming With $22B Roku Deal"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Lachlan
Lachlan Murdoch onstage during the FOX UPFRONT 2026 presentation at New York City Center on May 11, 2026. FOX via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Fox is poised to strengthen its position in the ad-supported streaming market. On Monday, the media company led by Lachlan Murdoch announced it would acquire smart TV firm Roku for $22 billion, or $160 a share (about 14 percent above Roku\u2019s current market price) in a cash-and-stock deal. The transaction, expected to close next year, would combine Fox\u2019s sports, news and entertainment programming and the Tubi platform with Roku\u2019s connected TV ecosystem<\/a> and the Roku Channel. The merger would create the third-largest streaming platform<\/a> in the U.S., according to Market Chameleon<\/b><\/span><\/a>, furthering Murdoch\u2019s vision<\/a> for Fox’s “next chapter”<\/a> following the 2019 sale of its entertainment assets to Disney.<\/p>\n

The acquisition would also give Fox access to Roku\u2019s more than 100 million global streaming households. That reach complements Tubi\u2019s more than 100 million monthly active users worldwide, a scale Fox has built since acquiring the platform in 2020.<\/p>\n

In recent years, the entertainment industry has been shaped by a wave of mergers and acquisitions, from the Paramount-Skydance deal to the battle for Warner Bros. Discovery<\/a> between Paramount and Netflix.<\/p>\n

Against the backdrop of the streaming wars and the continued decline of traditional cable and pay-TV subscribers, Roku represents a strategic move for Fox to stay competitive. With direct access to first-party viewer data across more than 100 million households, Fox could deliver more personalized ads, particularly as live sports continue to grow in value. eMarketer projects that connected TV (CTV) ad spend will reach $47 billion by 2028,<\/a> surpassing linear TV, while Nielsen has reported that both Roku and Tubi have surpassed services like Peacock and HBO Max in viewership.<\/p>\n

According to both companies, Fox and Roku \u201care committed to continuing to operate Roku as an open, partner-friendly platform\u201d and expect to maintain the \u201cubiquitous\u201d distribution of Fox content.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a defining moment for FOX, and a natural extension of the deliberate and focused strategy we have been executing for nearly a decade,\u201d Lachlan Murdoch, CEO and executive chair of Fox Corp., said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Murdoch noted that since 2019, Fox has reoriented its business around live news and sports, alongside its 2020 acquisition of Tubi, which has grown into one of the company\u2019s most successful streaming businesses.<\/p>\n

He added that the combination will \u201ctransform\u201d the company\u2019s scale into high-growth verticals and \u201cyield a step change\u201d in its overall growth profile. Fox reported $3.99 billion in revenue for the January\u2013March quarter, down from $4.37 billion a year earlier, with net income of $175 million. Despite a decline in advertising revenue, Tubi\u2019s revenue rose 23 percent, and total viewing time increased 19 percent, driven by its catalog of creator-led titles and Tubi originals. Meanwhile, Roku reported $1.25 billion in revenue for the March quarter, up from $1.02 billion a year earlier.<\/p>\n

Roku founder, chairman and CEO Anthony Wood, who is expected to remain involved with the combined company and join Fox\u2019s board following the deal\u2019s close, said he was \u201cincredibly proud\u201d of what his team has built, adding that combining with Fox \u201cis an extraordinary opportunity to accelerate our vision, scale faster and innovate more aggressively for viewers, partners and advertisers.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Murdoch is betting on Roku to accelerate Fox\u2019s next phase of streaming growth. The Roku acquisition would unlock user data, expand reach and position the company as a leader in the fast-growing CTV ad market.<\/p>\n Read More<\/a>","protected":false},"author":129757851,"featured_media":1664703,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"2026-06-17T17:20:10Z","apple_news_api_id":"688edfdd-7211-4e08-9169-c0963830f2fd","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2026-06-17T18:21:55Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AaI7f3XIRTgiRacCWODDy_Q","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"post_tag":[423824074],"company":[423806755,2455151,423977857,423961542],"channel":[186,423808806,423868938],"location":[],"nyo_column":[],"person":[423817539,423976426],"nyo_post_hidden":[],"coauthor":[424005161],"class_list":{"0":"post-1664702","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"tag-mergers-and-acquisitions","8":"observer_company-fox","9":"observer_company-roku","10":"observer_company-the-walt-disney-company","11":"observer_company-tubi","12":"channel-business","13":"channel-streaming","14":"channel-media","15":"nyo_person-lachlan-murdoch","16":"nyo_person-anthony-wood"},"acf":{"homepage_position":"","homepage_title":"","homepage_excerpt":"","alternative_og_image":"","headline":{"seo_headline":""},"subheadline":{"optimized_seo_description":"","optimized_social_excerpt":""}},"apple_news_notices":[],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/observer.com\/2026\/06\/lachlan-murdoch-fox-streaming-roku-acquisition\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":[],"rendered":"","tracker_url":"https:\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/observer.com\/p.js"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/06\/GettyImages-2275713091-e1781706996194.jpg?quality=80","coauthors_byline":"By Saleah Blancaflor","display_channel":"","thumbnail":"\"Lachlan