Fox to buy Roku for $25B

WSJ reporting on Fox's purchase: 

Fox Corp. said it is acquiring Roku in a deal valued at around $25 billion, making a major bet on the future of ad-supported streaming. The deal — Fox’s largest to date — brings together a media company known for its live news and sports programming with the biggest provider of streaming platforms for connected TVs.

It will add scale to Fox’s streaming business, currently home to free, ad-supported streaming service Tubi, which the company bought for $400 million in 2020, and subscription-based Fox One and Fox Nation.

In addition to distributing other streaming services through connected TVs and devices, Roku has its own ad-supported Roku Channel. The combined company will better compete with the likes of Amazon.com and Netflix for ad dollars.

Most notable is where Roku stands in the streaming platform market:

"More than 100 million global households stream with Roku. Roku is the largest streaming platform for connected TVs with 25% market share, according to research firm Parks Associates. Samsung’s Tizen is No. 2, at 2 1 3%."

I'll just go out and say it. Roku, on it's face, isn't worth $25B, but getting Tubi and it's ad-network might be. 

In the comprehensive Parks Associates rankings, Google TV (alongside its underlying Android TV architecture) sits just outside the top five tier.

While Roku, Samsung, Amazon, LG, and Vizio control the dominant "mid-to-top" tiers of primary household use, Google TV is classified in the "smaller shares" category. This puts it neck-and-neck with Apple tvOS and gaming consoles, generally occupying the #6 or #7 spot depending on whether you isolate the data strictly to Smart TV interfaces or include all connected living room streaming devices. 

Historically, Roku succeeded because it was a neutral gatekeeper. Now that it is owned by a major media conglomerate, rival network groups (like Disney, NBCUniversal, or Paramount) may be more hesitant to give Roku favorable distribution terms, potentially driving consumers to more neutral alternatives like Google TV.