Summary
Highlights
Fox is acquiring Roku in a surprising $22 billion deal, which is structured as a merger. Roku stockholders will own 27% of the combined company, with Fox stockholders owning the rest. Roku CEO Anthony Wood will continue to lead Roku operations and join the Fox board. Tubi and Roku Channel will remain separate, with Roku taking over ad sales for Tubi. Roku’s primary revenue comes from subscriptions and ad sales, not hardware. While no changes are planned for hardware, Fox plans to integrate more of its sports content into Roku's sports section. The deal requires US regulatory approval and is expected to close by the end of the year.
A new bug on YouTube TV is affecting Google TV and Android TV devices, preventing users from changing channels with the dedicated 'channel up/down' buttons on their remotes. Google is aware of the issue and working on a fix. Users can still navigate channels using the directional pad or voice commands.
DirecTV has expanded its genre packages by adding three new premium streaming services. The 'My Entertainment' package now includes AMC Plus alongside Disney Plus, Hulu, and HBO Max. The 'My Cinema' package will now offer Shudder, and new Spanish streaming services are being added to their Spanish packages. This enhances the value of DirecTV's specialized, cheaper TV packages.
Roku has discontinued its popular 'My Photo Stream' feature, which allowed users to display personal photos as a screensaver. This functionality has been merged into the 'Backdrops' app. Many users are unhappy with the change, preferring the previous Photo Stream experience, but Roku intends for the Backdrops app to serve this purpose and also offer a wider collection of art.
Netflix is introducing a feature that allows users with shared accounts to link individual profiles to their own email address and password. This change provides more personal control over profiles and enables users to easily transfer their watch history and playlists if they decide to get a separate subscription. This is part of Netflix's broader strategy to monetize individual users and address account sharing, especially as people move out of shared living situations.