Fox Corporation to acquire Roku for $22 billion

The Department of Justice has approved Fox Corporation’s $22 billion acquisition of the streaming platform Roku. While regulators concluded that the merger was unlikely to cause substantial competitive harm, the approval came with specific commitments to preserve Roku’s neutrality. These requirements include maintaining access to non-Fox content for at least three years, ensuring Fox-owned services are not favored in search results, and continuing to provide Roku’s data products to third parties.

The deal has drawn criticism from the American Economic Liberties Project (AELP), which has called for a congressional investigation. The non-profit highlighted that Fox donated $1 million to Melania Trump’s “Fostering the Future” initiative in August, a donation made while the Justice Department was reviewing the Roku acquisition. AELP expressed concerns regarding potential corruption, suggesting the transaction could be viewed as an attempt by a major media corporation to curry favor with the administration.