Fox just landed one of the biggest media deals of the year
One of the most consequential media deals of the year has Fox set to buy Roku in a deal worth US$22 billion.
The deal will see Fox take control of the TV user interface of around 100 million users globally, with the majority of those in the US. Roku controls around 25% of the connected TV market.
Both Fox and Roku operate hugely successful FAST platforms, with Fox saying that it plans to keep Tubi and The Roku Channel seperate. I’m skeptical that will last for too long, with both likely to be merged at some stage.
The acquisition makes a lot of sense for Fox, combining Roku, a low-cost connected TV hardware product, with its ownership of Tubi – an ad-supported streaming platform. It is Fox doubling down on the growing segment of streaming viewers seeking low-cost television access.
Tubi recently passed the 100 million monthly user mark and regardless of a merger with The Roku Channel, this acquisition will provide a strong platform to grow the user base for the free streamer.
Tubi is, of course, not the only Fox streaming product that will likely see benefit from this acquisition. I’d expect to see a strong presence for subscription services Fox Nation and its Fox channel skinny bundle Fox One (which includes the Fox Sports and Fox news channels).
Not enough attention is being paid to what Fox are investing in with their streaming products. Keep them in mind next time you find some goose on social media talking about how Netflix has won the so-called “streaming wars.”
This merger stinks. DoJ investigators reveal they were ready to challenge the Paramount / Warner Bros merger
It was always assumed that the DoJ would just waive through the Paramiunt Skydance acquisition of Warner Brothers Discovery. And that’s exactly what happened last weekend.
You might also take this assumption further and suggest that there would likely be some investigators internally who wouldn’t be happy with the decision to allow the merger, which is going to completely upend the industry, costing jobs and economic potential across Hollywood and beyond.
What I hadn’t expected was that those working on the deal would speak to the Wall St Journal. It reports:
A team of career lawyers who had spent months scrutinizing the deal were leaning toward recommending a lawsuit challenging it on the grounds that the combination of the two movie studios would be anticompetitive and violate antitrust law, the people said.
The staff investigators hadn’t yet made a final recommendation—a typical step in the deal-review process—and were told Friday that the department would close the investigation, effectively clearing the deal at the federal level, some of the people said.
This is one hell of a paragraph:
“The Antitrust Division conducted a thorough investigation to assess whether the proposed transaction would harm competition,” a Justice Department spokeswoman said. “The investigatory record indicated that the transaction will increase competition across the media and entertainment ecosystem, benefiting American consumers and workers.”
There’s nothing about this merger that suggests it will increase competition and benefit anyone other than David Ellison, his father, and their political allies. This merger stinks. And, I say this as someone who does think there’s some room in the industry for consolidation.
Some staffers in the Justice Department’s antitrust division believe the statement was designed to make it harder for state attorneys general to challenge the deal in court, the people said. The investigative staff didn’t participate in writing the statement, the people said.
If the midterm elections later this year see a power shift, expect these staffers to be in high demand for as investigations begin into what took place here.
News Desk
RIP ALF star Anne Schedeen at age 77. She was best known for playing Kate Tanner, the mother on the show. Most of the cast of the sitcom have passed, with just Paul Fusco (ALF himself) and one-time teenage daughter Andrea Elson remaining. Read Variety
Netflix has renewed Tina Fey comedy The Four Seasons for a third season. Read: thefutoncritic
The New York Times has a list of what it has declared the best TV shows of 2026 so far. Mind you, it doesn’t attribute any specific byline to the article, so who knows whose taste is being reflected here. That said, I am sharing it because I agree with almost everything on the list. Read: NYT
Peter Serafinowicz is joining the Harry Potter TV series as Peeves The Poltergeist, a character in the books who was cut from the films. I once knew a guy that we called Peeves, but that’s a story for an entirely different type of newsletter. Read: Polygon
FX shows previously debuted one day ahead of release on Hulu, but that has now shifted to a same day release strategy because of reasons related to common sense. Read: Variety
Netflix now has its own ice hockey romance series with a series adaptation of Icebreaker. Read: Variety
Trailer Park
The Last House debuts on Netflix August 7.
From director Louis Leterrier, starring Greta Lee and Wagner Moura. A family of four are suddenly sealed inside their home with no way out, and must work together to survive against both their dwindling resources and the mysterious, looming threat that is keeping them trapped.
Another Self returns for a third and final season on Netflix June 24.
Agent Kim Reactivated debuts June 26 on Netflix.
When an unassuming dad's daughter goes missing, he dusts off his old black-ops skills to track her down - only to attract the wrong kind of attention.
That’s the newsletter for the today.
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