If you watch anime on Roku, whether through Crunchyroll, The Roku Channel, or any other service installed on your device, the platform you use has just changed ownership. Fox Corporation announced a definitive agreement to acquire Roku, Inc. in a transaction valued at approximately $22 billion in enterprise value. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2027, subject to the necessary regulatory approvals.

The terms are specific: Roku shareholders will receive $160 per share, split into $96 in cash and 0.9693 shares of Fox Class A. Once the deal closes, current Fox shareholders will control about 73% of the combined company, while Roku shareholders will hold the remaining 27%. Anthony Wood, founder and CEO of Roku, will remain involved in the resulting company and will join the Fox board of directors.

For Fox, the acquisition is a clear strategic move: the company expanded its streaming presence in 2020 with the purchase of Tubi, and Roku adds hardware, a massive user base, and platform technology that complements its content assets. For Roku, the deal gives access to the resources and distribution of an established media corporation in a market where competition among streaming platforms shows no signs of easing.

Until the deal closes, both companies will continue operating independently. What comes next in terms of integration and direction of the combined company will become known as the process advances.

Roku is one of the largest streaming platforms in the United States, operating both physical players and smart TVs as well as its own content service, The Roku Channel, which includes anime titles in its catalog. Its relevance to the anime community mainly lies in being one of the most common devices through which users access services like Crunchyroll, Funimation, and other specialized platforms. Any significant change in Roku’s ownership or direction has the potential to affect that access ecosystem, although the deal does not currently contemplate immediate operational changes to any services on the platform.

Do you think Fox’s purchase of Roku could have any impact on the availability or access to anime on that platform, or do such corporate acquisitions typically not change the end-user experience?