Fox Now Owns Roku - What Changes on Your Roku, and How to Keep It Yours

Fox now owns Roku, after closing its $22 billion takeover on November 6 - but your Roku works exactly as it did yesterday.

Netflix, YouTube, Disney+ and every other app stay, and Fox has promised US regulators they will for at least three years.

Here's what Fox bought, what it promised, what it didn't, and the four settings that keep your home screen yours.

What Fox Actually Bought

Fox agreed in June to buy Roku for $160 a share, paid partly in cash and partly in Fox stock.

The deal closed on Friday, months ahead of the first half of 2027 the two companies had first planned for. Roku shares stopped trading on the Nasdaq the same day.

Fox gets the platform that runs more than 100 million households' TVs, plus The Roku Channel. It already owned Tubi, so it now runs two of the biggest free, ad-supported streaming services in the US.

Roku founder Anthony Wood joins Fox's board and co-chairs a new division, Fox Digital Platforms, which holds Roku, Tubi and Fox One. Roku itself is now run by Mustafa Ozgen, who led its devices business, according to an internal memo seen by Variety.

What Fox Promised Regulators

The US Justice Department cleared the deal after Fox made a set of commitments, which the department published on Friday. For at least three years after closing, Fox says it will:

• Keep carrying rival apps and shows. Non-Fox content stays on Roku.
• Keep search fair. Roku's search and discovery must not push Fox One or Tubi above everyone else.
• Let you rearrange your home screen. You can still move and remove app tiles you don't want.
• Wall off rivals' data. What you click, search, watch and say to your remote in other companies' apps stays behind existing firewalls.

Fox's own line is that Roku stays "a leading open ecosystem for the broader streaming industry." Wood put it more simply: "that mission doesn't change today."

What Nobody Has Promised

The promises have a clock on them. Three years is the minimum, and nothing has been said about what happens after.

They also cover search and app placement, not ads. On election night, Roku players that weren't signed in to a profile showed a home screen wallpaper promoting Fox One, with banner ads beside the app rows, The Desk reports.

Nothing has been announced about device prices, older-model support, a Tubi and Roku Channel merger, or Roku outside the US. The commitments were made to US regulators, so viewers in the UK, Canada and Mexico have no equivalent promise yet.

Keep Your Roku Home Screen Yours

None of this needs Fox's permission, and it takes about two minutes with the remote.

1. Remove apps you never open. Highlight the tile on the home screen, press the * button on the remote and choose Remove.
2. Limit ad tracking. Go to Settings > Privacy > Advertising and tick Limit Ad Tracking - you still see ads, but they aren't built from your viewing history.
3. Turn off content recognition on a Roku TV. In Settings > Privacy > Smart TV Experience, untick Use Info from TV Inputs, which stops the TV logging what plays from your antenna, console or cable box.
4. Block app microphone access. Under Settings > Privacy > Microphone, set Channel Microphone Access to Never Allow.

Thinking About Switching?

There's no reason to bin a working Roku today. But if the takeover has you looking around, the move that keeps the most control is owning your own library.

Jellyfin Server is a free media server you run on your own PC, with a Roku app to watch your films and shows on the TV. Nothing in it belongs to Fox, Roku or anyone else, and if you change devices later it comes with you.

If you want apps Roku has never allowed, such as Kodi or the IPTV player TiviMate, you need an Android-based box such as a Google TV device.

Check before you buy a Fire Stick, though - the newest Fire TV Stick 4K can't run Kodi or any other app from outside Amazon's store.

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