The Murdochs Expand Media Empire as Fox’s Roku Acquisition Closes

Roku has officially joined the Murdoch family empire. Fox’s deal to buy the major TV platform closed on Friday, expanding the media conglomerate’s reach to more than 100 million households worldwide. Roku will join a newly created division called Fox Digital Platforms, which will also include free ad-supported streaming service Tubi, Fox’s own streaming service Fox One, and the creator economy company Red Seat Ventures, whose clients have included Bari Weiss, Megyn Kelly, and Tucker Carlson. Under the leadership of frequent Trump ally Lachlan Murdoch, Fox agreed to buy Roku in a $22 billion deal back in June, but the deal was originally expected to close next year. At the time, Fox and Roku claimed that the acquisition would make the combined company the third-largest player in American television by share of viewing. Fox is still largely reliant on traditional cable TV distribution, and even though Fox News remains the most-watched cable news channel, its ratings fell dramatically in the weeks leading up to the midterm elections. In an earnings call earlier this week, Murdoch chalked that decline up to “fatigued” TV viewers who are just watching “slightly less television overall,” even though CNN notes that other cable news networks like MS NOW saw viewership growth. Regardless, Roku’s digital media reach is likely to be transformational for Fox as it seeks to widen its influence. The acquisition has raised concerns that Fox could give its own programming, including Fox News, preferential placement on Roku’s home screen. Fox has assured users that Roku will continue to be a “leading open ecosystem for the broader streaming industry,” according to the press release. “FOX has a deep respect for Roku’s culture and wholly shares our commitment to staying open to every content partner,” Roku founder Anthony Wood, who will now serve as co-chair of FOX Digital Platforms, said in a press release. “Our teams will keep building and innovating as they always have, now with the support and capabilities of FOX behind us.” The news is part of what seems to be a growing trend of major consolidation in the media and entertainment industries. Exactly a month earlier, on Oct. 6, Paramount-Skydance, led by fellow MAGA-leaning billionaire son David Ellison, closed its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. The deal saw two media and entertainment titans come together to form one mega company. Called Skydance, the company brought two major streaming services under common ownership, alongside two of the biggest film studios in Hollywood and two of the top news networks in the country, CBS and CNN. The consolidation sparked fierce opposition, with critics voicing concerns about the anti-competitive ramifications of the deal as the media landscape continues to rapidly collapse into itself. The deal also sparked worries about editorial independence.