The Era Of Roku Is Officially Ending

This article covers a developing story. Continue to check back with us as we will be adding more information as it becomes available.As one era ends, another one begins for Roku. Fox Corp.'s $22 billion acquisition of Roku has been approved by shareholders of both companies, according to Variety. The vote took place on Wednesday, October 14, with a nearly unanimous 99.9% of Fox shareholders voting for the deal, which breaks down to 197.4 million votes in favor and 71,891 against. On the Roku side, the vote was also overwhelming at 81.5%. It's expected that the agreement will officially close in early 2027 after the U.S. Department of Justice finishes its current antitrust review. Just over a month ago, the federal agency sought additional information and documents in order to continue the assessment. Fox can't complete its acquisition until this process plays out, as the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act requires a 30-day waiting period after complying with Justice Department requests. Fox Corp. already owns the free ad-supported streaming service Tubi, which it acquired in 2020 for $440 million. Over the summer, the platform grew to its most popular level yet, with 110 million users, a 14% increase from the year prior. Tubi is a free service that hosts hundreds of thousands of licensed movies and TV shows, as well as hundreds of exclusive originals, including the just-released film R.L. Stine's Pumpkinhead 2. Tubi is one of many apps available on Roku devices and smart TVs. Similar to Amazon's Fire TV devices, Roku allows users to stream TV shows, movies, sports, news and other content from basically any streaming service, like Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max, Hulu, Prime Video, Apple TV, Paramount+, Peacock, YouTube and more. The company also has its own free ad-supported platform called The Roku Channel that's similar to Tubi with licensed content and originals like Solo Traveling with Tracee Ellis Ross, Zoey's Extraordinary Christmas, Heathers: The Musical and Weird: The Al Yankovic Story. Fox executives have said that they will continue expanding the company's streaming footprint with this Roku acquisition and provide a bigger platform for its existing content, especially when it comes to sports. They've also claimed that, despite new ownership, Roku will remain an open platform for digital services not owned by Fox. More to come...