The US Justice Department cleared Fox Corp.’s $22 billion acquisition of Roku subject to commitments to keep the platform open to competitors.
Fox will continue carrying non-Fox movies and TV shows for at least three years. It also agreed not to push rival services down in search results or deny them prominent placement on Roku home screens.
The company will make audience data available to third parties and maintain safeguards against sharing sensitive information about rival content providers until at least 2029. That information includes what users search for, watch and click.
Fox closed the deal on Friday. The acquisition expands the company’s position in media and streaming, bringing together the free platforms Tubi and Roku with the premium service Fox One.
Roku’s operating system powers its streaming devices and is built into televisions. Millions of US households use the platform to access services including Netflix, YouTube and Disney+.
The Justice Department said its investigation found the deal was unlikely to harm competition in free, ad-supported streaming. It also said Roku depends on content from many providers to attract users, so harming rivals could bring financial and reputational costs to the merged company.
The deal had been in the works for more than a year, although it closed in five months.
