• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, 9 hours ago

For some time now, Fox Corp. has taken great pains to tell us how important linear TV was -- its Fox Television Network and Fox News Media networks -- even as it launched Fox One, its premium streaming platform, last summer.

So how do we make sense of this in the context of Fox's announcement earlier this week that it would be buying the massive streaming platform Roku for $22 billion?

For many, Fox One (including Fox Corp) the streamer seemed to be a low-key effort to be in the game, with other legacy premium streamers -- Paramount+, Disney+ and Peacock, for example.

Fox One is estimated to have around 2.9 million subscribers -- just a fraction of the business of those other major streamers.

Will the dynamic now change for the company and its streaming platform?

Well, Roku has been offering Fox One since its start in August 2025. So there doesn’t seem to be much of a change there.

With Roku, Fox is now working in another streaming area -- benefitting from its access to Roku’s own Roku Channel, as well as financially from its legacy competitors, to some extent.

For example, Roku gains a share of those streamers' subscription fees -- around 20% revenue share. That is lower compared to the major premium streamers Disney+, Netflix and Prime Video because of their greater market leverage. 

And there is an advertising inventory share as well -- with Roku getting 30% on average, leaving the streamer to maintain 70%. Again, bigger streamers look to command a more favorable share.

This probably will not change things for Fox’s competitors. Many have been through this in the past.

Think about Fox Corp. and others having to negotiate carriage fees with Comcast Corp. on its cable and virtual pay TV services --- all while Comcast’s NBCUniversal operates.

What Fox-Roku gives the company -- in addition to the increasing success of Tubi -- is more heft and reach in terms of more streaming viewership reach and engagement.

This is something major media-buying executives increasingly desire.

Fox is now making its transition back to the big media stage after selling half of its company (movie studios and cable TV networks) to Disney in 2019.

Perhaps the cash-rich Fox Corp. may seek other streaming acquisitions.