No more lightbulbs, much more sports: Five predictions for Roku’s future

This is Lowpass by Janko Roettgers , a newsletter on the ever-evolving intersection of tech and entertainment, syndicated just for The Verge subscribers once a week. When Fox announced its acquisition of Roku earlier this week, executives of both companies were quick to promise that not much would change in the near future. Sure, getting its hands on Roku will help Fox become a major force in streaming, and surpass the viewership of Netflix in the United States when you include Fox’s TV networks. But Roku will remain open to all streaming services, and Fox will keep selling its programming to anyone, they pledged. Of course, that doesn’t mean everything will stay the same. I expect that the deal will have a significant impact on both companies, and that Roku owners will see major changes once it closes. Here’s what I believe is in store for Roku’s future: The Roku Channel will become a Roku exclusive One of the questions analysts had on a joint Fox and Roku investor call earlier this week was: What does this deal mean for the future of Tubi and The Roku Channel, the ad-supported streaming services operated by the two companies? The diplomatic answer: The services are complementary, with Tubi mostly serving up movies and TV shows on demand while The Roku Channel has a lot more eyeballs on free, ad-supported streaming channels (also known among industry insiders as FAST channels). That’s true, to a degree. …