Roku founder and chief executive Anthony Wood first raised the idea of scaling back his role and possibly selling the company to its board in September last year, setting in motion a process that culminated in Fox Corporation's $22 billion (£17.3bn) agreement to acquire the streaming platform in June. The deal, revealed in detail in a regulatory filing on 7 August, would significantly reshape the streaming industry, combining Roku's reach of more than 100 million households with Fox's existing free ad-supported service Tubi, which recently passed 110 million users.

According to the filing, Roku's board rejected Wood's initial succession plan, citing the risk of losing his strategic expertise, and instead launched a "market check" this year in which advisers contacted 12 potential buyers, including Fox, while deliberately excluding three others for strategic reasons. Only Fox emerged as a serious bidder, with Fox chief Lachlan Murdoch personally meeting Wood in New York in late April to discuss the takeover and confirm Wood would remain involved for at least a year before moving to a board position. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2027.