When Fox’s $22 billion plan to acquire Roku hit Hollywood inboxes last Monday morning, it instantly became the head-spinning deal everyone in media was trying to decode: Was Lachlan Murdoch buying a streaming ad engine, a connected TV distribution weapon, a Tubi growth machine — or all of the above?
Team Ankler moved fast to get inside the story.
- Sean McNulty hosted an emergency pod with Business Insider’s Peter Kafka to game out the implications of the deal.
- For Series Business, Lesley Goldberg spoke to Hollywood insiders about Murdoch’s method behind the merger and what it means for content strategy — and who gains power, or loses it — once Tubi and Roku are under the same roof.
- Next, Elaine Low, Natalie Jarvey and Sean pulled the threads together on Ankler Agenda, assessing the deal’s winners and losers and why spending on distribution — and not content a la Netflix — may be the next phase of the Streaming Wars.
The deal is sure to be Topic A at Cannes Lions this coming week, where Ankler CEO Janice Min will have buzzy interviews with two execs near the center of it all: Roku Media President Charlie Collier, Monday morning at 9:45 a.m. at Brand Innovators Showcase Stage at Armani Caffè (RSVP here), and Fox Entertainment CEO Rob Wade, along with FOX Creator Studios Head Billy Parks, Tuesday at 2 p.m. at The Impact Lounge at La Muse Restaurant (RSVP here). Read all about our plans, and get ahead of the game with Natalie’s first annual list of the Croisette’s must-meet creator economy power players:
The Fox-Roku question was already in the air in Denver at StreamTV, where I moderated three keynote Q&As — with YouTube’s outgoing VP Americas, Tara Walpert Levy, Radial Entertainment CEO Jeff Shultz and Tubi chief content officer Adam Lewinson, who (no surprise) offered a bullish take on his parent co’s big move. “The deal is an extension of a strategy we executed on a decade ago,” said the exec, who joined Tubi a few months after Fox acquired it in 2017. “Combining Fox and Roku creates a next-generation media company.”
Now, ICYMI, the rest of our best of the week:
Series Business
↑ Sellers’ Guide: The Shows NBC and Peacock Want Now Elaine reveals what NBCUniversal’s network and streamer are looking for, as reps cheer NBC’s pilot revival and Peacock’s drama wish list includes “white wine thrillers.”
TV in 3: Inside Quinta Brunson’s WB Defection — and Coogler’s Jump to Netflix Lesley reveals the tick-tock of Brunson’s new Disney deal, and what led Ryan Coogler to leave the Mouse House. Plus, what to know about the week’s big studio shakeups.
Sports, En Español
↑ The World Cup Is Exposing Sports Media’s Big Blind Spot As Telemundo smashes records with its Spanish-language coverage, Erik Barmack asks a pivotal question: What if the distinction between Spanish- and English-language media is disappearing?
Richard Rushfield
↑ 6 CEOs Will Soon Control the Media’s Fate. What Could Go Wrong? Every major information source has a Trump-adjacent leader at the helm. With democracy in the balance, Richard explores where we might be headed — and what you can do about it.
Crowd Pleaser
↑ Comedy Got Old. Now It Wants Its Own Backrooms Moment As Hollywood sticks to R-rated comedies for and by an older demo (see Scary Movie and Jackass: Best and Last), Matthew Frank covers the upstarts lining up to run horror’s disruptive playbook.
Reel AI
↑ The Hottest AI Video Startup Calls B.S. on the Movie-in-a-Prompt Fantasy Luma COO Caroline Ingeborn tells Erik why the company’s $4 billion valuation is a bet on Hollywood pros, advertisers and creative teams.
Boomers vs. the World
↑ Baby Boomers Keep Oufoxing the Young Onscreen. Why? From F1 to Hacks, baby boomers eclipse younger generations at every turn these days. Christopher Rosen assesses the cultural and economic forces behind the trend — and why whenever Hollywood plays it safe, the material ages up.
Prestige Junkie
↑ Matthew Rhys’ Widow’s Bay Character is ‘Braver Than You Think’ The star, and show creator Katie Dippold, tell Katey Rich about being trapped in TV’s funniest haunted house and how it happened.
JFK Jr., Carolyn & Jackie: How Love Story Escaped TV’s Pilot Trap In conversation with creator Connor Hines and director Max Winkler, Katey looks at how the drama captured Kennedy mythology — but also far more elemental forces of love and family.
Plus, Katey chats with Shrinking star Michael Urie, who broke out on Ugly Betty, about the “magical chemistry” that makes the Apple TV comedy-drama so special:
Matthew Rhys, Jason Segel and an Emmy Actor Race Going Sideways Plus: Director Colin Hanks tells Katey about his John Candy doc and capturing the real story behind the comedy legend.
The Wakeup
Sean breaks down all the week’s TV news, from NBCU and Disney studio disruption and the overall deals shuffle to Netflix’s goodbye to The Boroughs — and whether Fox is overpaying for Roku:
Friday → ☀️ UNI’s 1-Day 📽️ Buying Spree; Huge TV Overalls Shuffle
Thursday → ☀️ NETFLIX Axes Duffer Series, HBO Gets KNICKS Project
Wednesday → ☀️ NBCU Merges TV Groups, Trims Staff
Tuesday → ☀️ FOX’s Cable TV Escape Plan: ROKU
Sunday → ☀️ UNI’s Disclosure Day Opens With Cloudy Outlook
Shows
Monday Morning QBs
Sean and Chris dive into the less-than-stellar start for Disclosure Day and its prospects for the weeks ahead:
Rushfield Lunch
Ahead of next month’s Minions & Monsters, Illumination CEO Chris Meledandri joins Richard for a discussion about his long career, the animation behemoth and the future of film:
The Optionist
Andy Lewis’ latest IP picks
↑ Palm Springs Meets Happy Death Day In This Fantastic Time-Loop Thriller
