Fox to buy Roku in $22bn deal that reshapes connected TV
Updated: Aug 20
Fox has announced plans to acquire streaming platform Roku in a deal worth around $22bn, bringing two major ad-supported streaming services — Roku and Tubi — under single ownership. Together the platforms account for roughly 5.2% of US streaming viewership, and because only about a third of their audiences overlap, the combination gives advertisers access to largely distinct viewer segments feeding into one unified data system.
It is a landmark moment in the consolidation of connected TV (CTV). By uniting inventory, audience data and measurement under one roof, the deal creates a more powerful, more targetable advertising proposition — and signals where the balance of power in television advertising is heading.
Why UK marketers should care
Although the transaction is US-based, its implications reach far beyond America. UK advertisers are already shifting budgets from linear television towards streaming, and consolidation on this scale points to a future in which CTV ad inventory, data and measurement are increasingly bundled together by a handful of major players. That raises both the targeting power and the strategic importance of the channel.
With video-on-demand among the fastest-growing advertising channels in the UK, connected TV is likely to keep climbing the priority list for brands rebalancing their media plans away from traditional TV.
The consolidation wave
The Fox–Roku deal is the latest and largest in a run of tie-ups reshaping the streaming landscape. As growth in subscriber numbers slows, platforms are turning to advertising to drive revenue — and scale has become the key to competing for ad budgets against the likes of YouTube, Amazon and Netflix. Owning both a distribution platform (Roku's operating system sits inside millions of TVs) and premium ad-supported content (Tubi) gives the combined business a rare end-to-end grip on the living room.
For advertisers, greater consolidation is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it promises simpler buying, richer data and more consistent measurement across a larger footprint. On the other, it concentrates power in fewer hands, which over time can mean less competition on price and more dependence on a small number of gatekeepers. Marketers will need to weigh the efficiency gains against the strategic risk of over-reliance on any single platform.
The practical response for UK brands is to build genuine CTV expertise now, while the channel is still maturing — testing formats, understanding the data, and learning how connected TV complements social video and linear. Those that do will be far better placed to negotiate, buy smartly and measure effectively as the market consolidates around a few dominant players.
— Oliver Nikolla-Casado, International Markets Reporter at Marketing Minute
For marketers, the lesson is to build CTV capability before it becomes table stakes. As streaming inventory and data consolidate, the brands that already understand the channel will buy it smarter and more cost-effectively.
Is connected TV now a core part of your media plan, or still a nice-to-have you'll get to later?
If you would like to know more about this topic, please contact us on danieln@merxmarketing.co.uk
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