Fox strikes $22bn deal for Roku to fuel streaming push

Deal gives network access to more than 100m households using Roku streaming platform Fox Corp is buying Roku in a cash-and-stock deal ⁠valued at about $22bn in a bet that pairing its sports and news programming with a top TV streaming platform will strengthen its position as audiences shift online. The deal, ⁠announced on Monday, gives ⁠Fox access to ​the more than 100m households using Roku’s streaming platform, potentially helping the cable TV-reliant media company better target ads and reduce reliance on traditional distribution. It is Fox’s ⁠first major acquisition since its CEO and chairman, Lachlan Murdoch, cemented control over the media empire his father Rupert built, following a family settlement last year. Lachlan on Monday called the Roku ⁠deal a “defining moment” for Fox that brings “together the most valuable live content portfolio in video consumption with the preeminent streaming platform ​through which America watches it”. Fox shares fell 8% ‌in premarket trading. Roku rose ‌2.6% to $147.5, but traded below the offer price of $160 per share. One of the first companies to bring streaming ‌platforms like Netflix and YouTube to television through connected devices and