Murdoch’s Fox Buys Roku, the No. 1 U.S. Streaming Platform, for $22 Billion

The expansion of the media empire has no end. Fox Corporation, a longtime media heavyweight that dominated 20th-century living rooms, has swallowed Roku, the gateway to the digital living room of the 21st century, for $22 billion (about 33 trillion won). This is more than a simple corporate acquisition—it marks the opening move in a massive power shift aimed at taking control of the home screen, where modern people’s attention lingers.

An empire that calls itself the gatekeeper of the screen, and the power dynamics of sight hidden behind it

In modern society, television is not just a mindless box. It is a window onto the world—and the most powerful channel through which capital can control consumers’ everyday lives. Roku, whose acquisition Fox announced abruptly on the 15th (local time), is the company holding the key to that window. It is the port every would-be voyager must pass through to navigate the ocean of streaming services—Netflix, YouTube, and countless others. In particular, Roku has maintained its solid No. 1 position by embedding its own operating system (OS) at the heart of global TV makers such as TCL and Hisense, overwhelming major tech capital—Google, Amazon, and Apple—in the U.S. connected TV (CTV) ecosystem.

Fox’s latest move is highly strategic and outright. Already in possession of cable channels and the free streaming platform Tubi, the company can now deliver its core weapons—news and sports content—directly into living rooms around the world through a massive platform power. By monopolizing the canvas users see first the moment they turn on the remote’s power, Fox is effectively declaring that it will rule as the absolute ruler that sets the rules for the advertising ecosystem, beyond simply supplying content. It is no exaggeration that CEO Lachlan Murdoch called it “a decisive moment in Fox’s expansion of its media empire and the natural product of the past decade’s concentration strategy.”

But the capital market’s gaze was relentlessly cold. The financial fears that a staggering bet of 33 trillion won could shake the foundation of the empire descended on Wall Street. That day, on the New York Stock Exchange, Fox shares plunged more than 15% during the trading session, proving that the weight of the crown is never light. Whether this enormous gamble to seize media dominance ultimately becomes the empire’s glory—or a pitfall of its own making—will be decided only by the public standing before the screen.