Fox to buy Roku

I have always been unhappy with Roku's decision to get involved in streaming content at all, because it could potentially cut into their service-agnostic architecture. Bad enough in my mind that they had in-platform ads instead of just charging for hardware, but way worse when they are actively competing with streaming services.

And now it looks like it has happened -- a large content provider wants to buy the company, and while I hope that they can at least notionally continue to be service-agnostic, the temptation to cheat to favor your own services will always be there an when cost cutting and belt tightening is on the table, that is surely what will happen.

[1] My order for the "Netflix Player by Roku": "CustomerID# 1162 Thank you very much for your Roku order. Your order number is 2472, placed 5/20/2008 at 10:01AM."

WarmWash• 1 month ago

There is the long standing problem that if you build a road for others, and others get unfathomably rich using that road, you end up looking pretty dumb.

kbelder• 1 month ago

And yet, advancement of civilization depends on that.

dylan6048• 1 month ago

Bad enough in my mind that they had in-platform ads instead of just charging for hardware

I mean, of course they did. If you were running a company and had to choose between a one-time relatively small fee vs a life time of near constant ad driven income per user, which would you choose?

andrewla5• 1 month ago

Obviously preferences vary, but I would prefer to accumulate the goodwill rather than the ad fees. I'm not a saint and I would probably try to have some sort of "buy the roku streamer v7, now with <some new feature that I don't backport>".

In the end the tradeoff is pretty rough; judging by alternatives, keeping the cost of the stick low requires that they do the ad thing. I say that I would pay more for an ad-free version but I never went out there and bought the nvidia shield for example even though I'm told it's a good experience.

bmelton2• 1 month ago

I was also super-early Roku customer, but frankly I have been mostly disappointed with Roku for the past year or so.

The hardware on the top tier devices doesn't seem to keep up. Interacting with it is slower and more laggy than it originally was.

They've tried to keep them unobtrusive, which I appreciate, but the mere existence of ads is disappointing. I almost give the Roku City ads a pass, because frankly that's clever, and mirrors the real world enough that it seems logical to me -- but ads in menus is grating.

CEC has been super flaky with the latest revisions as well, so for the past couple of weeks I've been relegated to using either the Roku remote or my phone instead of my TV's remote.

I'm a big fan of waiting to see before prejudging, but I can't imagine anything gets better post-acquisition, and I was already on my way out the door. I guess I'm buying an Apple TV now? Are there any other recommendations? I haven't kept up with the space at all, so if anyone has suggestions I am super happy to receive them.

andrewla5• 1 month ago

The lagginess is a puzzle to me; one big selling point of the Roku (vs. e.g. the Amazon Fire Stick) is that it is so much more responsive, but newer models have been getting worse instead of better.

The last time I used Apple TV I was disappointed, and since they are a streaming provider themselves I expect this to get worse rather than better. Even very basic UI things like "what block in the UI is the cursor currently selected" are painful, and the navigation flow mirrors the navigation flow of the Apple TV app on Roku, which is already pretty bad -- navigating the a series page from a single episode is a tortuous multi-step process that involves getting the incantations exactly right or being reverted back to the main screen and losing all context.

The moat here is mostly just having widespread and maintained support for streaming services, which is a question of scale; that's why so many "Smart" TVs get stale after a year or so while Roku stays fresh. In 2008 I paid (in 2008 dollars) $99 for the Roku. The price now is much lower but I would probably be willing to pay that amount for a fresh device that is performant and agnostic to streaming services and no ads (including those remote buttons) and has a straightforward UI.

Noaidi2• 1 month ago

Yes, let the enshitification begin.

I have never seen a mergre like this not lead to anything but a money grab. They will no doubt remove things like PlutoTV, which is free, and substitutte it with more subscription apps and more data collection

mleo• 1 month ago

Begin? I haven’t heard anything positive about Roku in 10 years or so. They had to race to the bottom to compete with Amazon and Google. And maybe they mostly survived til now, but all I hear is complaints about ads.

nerdsniper2• 1 month ago

I’d be shocked if the Jellyfin App survives this. Plex probably will, as a for-profit company it has the war chest to buy placement/attention/app approval. But i prefer jellyfin because it doesnt try to sell me anything or tell me what to watch.

maxerickson• 1 month ago

Fox owns Tubi, which has a similar model to PlutoTV.

tmaly• 1 month ago

I have been reading these threads where people are patching firmware with AI. I am wondering if there is a way to fix some of the privacy issues on Roku tvs given this deal.

Valord• 1 month ago

go on...

jimt1234• 1 month ago

Roku hasn't been 'agnostic' since RokuTV or the Roku Channel, or whatever-the-fuck it's called. I watch with a GoogleTV device, connected to my Roku television through HDMI. A few months ago I started seeing these weird popups, saying something like, "I see you're watching 'The Goonies'. Why not watch on RokuTV?" It was bizarre, and a little creepy considering I wasn't using the Roku platform at all. As it turned out, Roku added a 'feature' for doing content recommendations. I disabled that 'feature', but it was still weird, like, "These guys are watching what I'm watching, even when I'm not on their platform!"

toomuchtodo• 1 month ago

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2449198-smart-tvs-take-...

orev• 1 month ago

Smart TVs are always monitoring what you’re watching by taking screenshots and processing them. This is a known thing for at least several years now. The only safe way to use a smart TV is to never connect it to the network, and use another streaming device. That separate device will spy on you too, but at least you’re making the choice.

thayne• 1 month ago

Are there any alternatives that are independent of streaming services?

nemomarx4• 1 month ago

Google and Apple seem like the best competition and they do have streaming services, although Google's is just their bad YouTube tv thing and very ignorable. I'm not sure Amazon is even in the running now.

The Nvidia shield used to be a decent streaming box?

righthand3• 1 month ago

You can go to Walmart and buy a streaming box that is a Raspberry pi-sized board with custom Android installed and the package claims it has 700+ channels. But it just is an overlay for pirate streaming sites.

literatepeople4• 1 month ago

Not really. Apple TV seems to be the closest ive found to not being riddled with ads though. the home screen doesn't have ads at all, the closest which exists is the "top shelf" feature when you hover over the Apple TV app, and that can be turned off in settings. But it has some other issues

theturtletalks• 1 month ago

Look into the TiVo Stream 4K. It’s an Android box but has been very reliable for me. Tivo does force some quirks so I used ADB to disable core services and the default launcher has ads so I switched to Projectivy launcher.

glenstein• 1 month ago

Recently got a Google Smart TV for the first time, instead of Roku, and I hate it so much. Roku interestingly I think folded in ads in the most non-obtrusive way (except for the full screen ads which I think were quickly abandoned). But Google Smart TV is a completely intentional bid for sticky integration that fosters Google dependence (google login, google telemetry tracking what you watch inside of other apps, other streamers are google apps), which is not how I want to experience my streaming. It's also slow and sometimes glitchy. I had never had a TV capable of crashing before.

Roku at least felt non-evil or non-evil adjacent in its notional neutrality.

kelvinjps10• 1 month ago

An android tv you can buy them for 20$, and put any apps

cgh• 1 month ago

We use a PlayStation 5. It has all the streaming service apps you’d expect, including YouTube, and the UX is great.

phantomathkg2• 1 month ago

The only decent device out there will be Nvidia Shield.

As a Google certified Android TV, this means it will do Widevine L1 DRM decoding, give you the 4K streaming quality.

For TV I used to recommend Sony, but now they sold the whole business to China TCL. Will have to wait and see if TCL will enshittify it.

freeAgent2• 1 month ago

Ironically, I think the Apple TV is the best streaming box out there. Of course, Apple is both the manufacturer and a streamer in their own right. And they definitely privilege their own store and streaming over other services. However, everything else already sucks so much with UIs chock full of ads that Apple wins anyway. It’s awful.

rhubarbtree• 1 month ago

Can confirm Apple is best but Roku is amazingly good number 2. In some ways its UX beats Apple.

tencentshill• 1 month ago

Some apps on the apple tv still have ads on the pause screen (covering the content I may have wanted to pause to see, a terrible UX choice). It can't be entirely avoided.

053• 1 month ago

If the box where I can’t set up a third party player to do the ‘replay last 5 seconds with subtitles on’ because it’s all locked down is the best then I don’t want to know what the worst is, I’ll just keep using LibreElec. At least if LibreElec does something I don’t like Claude can fix it.

joshstrange2• 1 month ago

Yep, Apple TV has long been my preferred streaming box. I put one on every TV and don't connect the TV to the network. Plex and YouTube are probably my top apps and while YouTube is maddening (just horrible UI/UX), I find Plex to be mostly enjoyable or at least reliable and unsurprising.

kimbernator• 1 month ago

Definitely. It's un-bloated and simple in a sea of options that are progressively slower and shittier.

munk-a6• 1 month ago

Unironically, the best streaming box out there is a PC where you can hook up ad block and stream content from independent content providers like Dropout and Nebula using their web-based UI.

We seem to have an economic cycle of enshittification => piracy => people realizing they've over enshittified => goto 10. We were in phase 3 a few years ago, now we're in phase 1 and it's an insane race to the bottom.

mindtricks2• 1 month ago

A few reasons I'm staying positive towards Apple, despite being a streamer themselves, is that they're not large at all. They've currently remained a small, niche content provider of reasonably high-quality content. They don't seem to have the aspirations to be bigger than those on their platform. Also, they have so much increasing oversight on their App Store and decisions there, that they likely do not want to do anything that shows a preference and gains the ire of governing agencies. I'm hoping this keep them relatively neutral.

pier253• 1 month ago

I think the Apple TV is the best streaming box out there

It definitely is.

IMO the only advantage of the Nvidia Shield is better HDMI audio passthrough but it has so many other issues. And with more recent versions of the Plex client for tvOS the lack of audio passthrough is much less of an issue than it used to be (PCM conversion used to introduce sync issues). Also the Plex app for Android TV has been getting consistently worse over the years for me. Plus all the ads Android TV added a couple of years ago. Ugh.

Some of the more exotic boxes out there to run CoreELEC have tehcnically better DV support. These might work if you only want a Plex or Kodi client but for general streaming the Apple TV is just better.

Honestly can't wait for Apple to release a new one. Hopefully with audio passthrough of more codecs.

hbn• 1 month ago

The only issue with Apple TV is they still can't figure out a good remote. I feel like I need to hold my breath and be very intentional with my swipes so when I'm e.g. swiping up/down to get to a menu where I can turn on subtitles I don't accidentally swipe left or right, sending me scrubbing 17 minutes forward.

Either touch is a bad input mechanism for controlling your TV, or Apple hasn't figured it out.

nekooooo• 1 month ago

ever since tvOS came out (and by extension, the app store) they've really leapfrogged every other streaming box. I would have thought android-based boxes like Nvidia's shieldtv would have won here (and created a casual gaming platform) but I was dead wrong.

i worked on a roku tv app once upon a time... and their OS couldn't even draw circle primitives. frustrating.

tshaddox• 1 month ago

Why is that ironic? This is exactly what you should expect, unless you feel very strongly about sideloading apps or installing different operating systems. Or if you love ads.

renegade-otter• 1 month ago

Subjective, of course, but Apple is the new HBO. They don't have the massive amount of content, but they go for quality.

calmworm• 1 month ago

Ironic how?

smackeyacky• 1 month ago

Why is it better than the Google TV (new Chromecast). We’ve bought every iteration of these and had no issues whatsoever with them. I don’t notice advertising unless it’s within Prime streams.

The latest Google TV even has an Ethernet port on it which was a welcome addition. Their approach to the universal remote is also great for simple TV setups even with a soundbar involved s long as you use the ARC hdmi port.

I can’t see any advantages the Apple product has.

BLKNSLVR• 1 month ago

I put the Projectivy home screen on my various Android/Google TV devices, which is clean and ad-free.

A couple of older devices it "just works" on. A newer TV with Android built in requires minor adb commands to disable the return of the default home screen, but it's been working for ~6 months, including a TV software update (which my wife initiated and I was worried might turn things to their default status, but didn't).

Apple TV will be my next device if the above becomes locked out.

zamalek• 1 month ago

I don't like anything Apple, I had an awful experience with MacOS (the laptop was great), iPhones and their 12 finger gestures (again, terrible software) aren't for me.

WiFi and worsening slowness woes with the Google TV/Chromecast pushed me into buying an Apple TV, and it is the single Apple product that I would glowingly recommend; that's saying something coming from an Apple hater. It is truly a fantastic product.

supertroop• 1 month ago

Why is that ironic? The Apple TV unit reminds me of the old Apple. Simple and solid.

Affric• 1 month ago

Bingo.

Again Apple's offering is the worst apart from every other one on the market.

account424• 1 month ago

Perhaps but even better is not streaming at all and actually "owning"* your entertainment.

* In the sense that no one can take it away and you can give it to someone else when you want.

everdrive• 1 month ago

Services are really never safe. Or at best, they should be considered temporary. If you like what they provide, know that what they provide could become worse and/or more expensive. This is the likeliest scenario.

At best, you should use services on a temporary basis and never allow yourself to get entrenched. Once you're locked in, you are part of the product to be sold to advertisers. The "install base" that is used as leverage for these sorts of shenanigans.

freeAgent2• 1 month ago

Ironically, I think the Apple TV is the best streaming box out there. Apple is both the manufacturer and a streamer in their own right. And they definitely privilege their own store and streaming over other services. However, everything else already sucks so much with UIs full of ads that Apple wins anyway. It’s awful.

prepend5• 1 month ago

I was an early roku user and ditched them because they’ve sucked for 10+ years. Their players have been trash and had poor support.

Amazing they got $22B and tivo must be really kicking itself.

bsimpson2• 1 month ago

Roku's decision to get involved in streaming content at all

As I recall, it was originally a Netflix product that was spun out due to its potential to cause a conflict of interest in their main business. They didn't want devices like Chromecast and AppleTV to see Netflix as a competitor, and be reluctant to bundle the Netflix streaming app on their devices.

bradfitz• 1 month ago

2008? I had the Roku HD1000 [1]. :)

My email search:

"Welcome to the "Roku-tech" mailing list" ... "Tue, Dec 2, 2003, 10:48 AM"

Not sure how I ended up on the mailing list a month before their product was released. There must've been buzz about it for a few months before release.

[1] https://photos.app.goo.gl/bMGBqm4mTmfUNJG39

andrewla5• 1 month ago

Well, color me impressed -- my understanding was that Roku was formed as a spinoff from Netflix around the release of their first streaming player. This is sort of confirmed by the Roku wikipedia article, which does not, for example, mention the HD1000 at all!

I guess Wood founded Roku but it was basically semi-defunct when we went to work for Netflix, and then the "spinoff" was basically letting Wood poach his team from Netflix over to his existing company to staff up and sell the first streaming device.

Grombobulous• 1 month ago

My other concern is the highly partisan nature of the Fox company.

This isn’t a content company that caters to viewers across the political spectrum or purely focuses on entertainment first, this is a company that almost exclusively runs right-leaning political media outlets.

Your Roku already has advertisements and other content nudges on the Home Screen, and now those are going to be very one-sided and potentially politically motivated.

Postosuchus• 1 month ago

You might have missed the memo, but Roku's main business has been advertising for quite a while. It is just shrouded in streaming and platforms. But it is advertising nevertheless.

Being a platform, Roku benefits from advertising 3 ways - by running its own ads in some apps and on home screen; by exercising carriage rights on 3p apps that show ads (getting a cut as a platform); and by building and selling audiences for targeting.

For all I know, Fox has zero interest in platforms or technology. But they are fairly sophisticated when it comes to adtech and this is purely an adtech play.

prasadjoglekar• 1 month ago

No different than a tech platform expanding into content. Like YouTube, Amazon and Apple. I understand your complaint, but those two worlds are intertwined beyond redemption now.

baggachipz5• 1 month ago

Time for the 'Fox News' button on the Roku remote. Truth Social tweets on your screensaver.

fred_is_fred• 1 month ago

Back when we had things like Dish and cable, I was able to put a "Parental Block" on channels. I used this to hide or remove channels I never watched, but I found it had a secondary benefit when my Texan in-laws visited -- "Sorry, our TV package doesn't include Fox News".

giancarlostoro5• 1 month ago

Actually, a more likely button might be "Sports" which would either open your preferred sports app (smarter way to do it) and default to Fox Sports, or a "Stream TV" type button that opens up Tubi which is already run by Fox, and surprisingly had decent content on it.

I'm not surprised they're going this route, and would not be surprised if News becomes a drastically smaller piece of Fox over the coming years.

subroutine• 1 month ago

Why would this be more likely? The current remotes already have a Netflix button, a Hulu button, a Sling button and a Disney+ button. Roku sells dedicated buttons on their remotes to the highest bidder.

yndoendo2• 1 month ago

[flagged]

reagan83• 1 month ago

willismichael• 1 month ago

I'm impressed that you were able to cancel SiriusXM. I thought that it was set up to cling to people for life, and possibly continue billing their estate after death.

tombert3• 1 month ago

When I got my house, I needed to set up internet, and Verizon FIOS was what I went for.

I called them to get it set up, and when I suggested the internet dude on the line kept trying to upsell me TV packages. I was polite at first but eventually I said something like "listen, I don't want your 'Movie Lovers' package. I don't want your 'Sports Fan' package. I don't want your 'Family Entertainment' package. I don't want your 'Comedy Lover' package. I just want internet. I do not want anything but internet. If you pitch more more packages I will still only want internet".

Admittedly a little rude, but the guy did get the point after that and he was perfectly helpful getting everything set up.

Marsymars6• 1 month ago

What's really obnoxious is that that in Canada, you can't get a basic cable bundle without an American Fox News affiliate included.

hightrix2• 1 month ago

More like, time for Apple TV boxes to replace Roku boxes. I’ve been wanting to do this for a while but had no good reason.

Now there is a good reason.

baggachipz5• 1 month ago

It's a much better experience anyway. I've had mine for a couple years and wondered why I didn't do it sooner.

smcg• 1 month ago

My Samsung TV sometimes auto-plays Fox when I turn it on. It's very annoying.

pickleglitch4• 1 month ago

So now the same corporation that owns Fox News is going to own Roku? No thanks. Guess it's finally time to switch to a custom Android TV box or Apple TV. Or roll my own, but I've tried that and found it pretty difficult.

IshKebab3• 1 month ago

Or roll my own, but I've tried that and found it pretty difficult.

I agree, there seem to be no good options for this. You can use Kodi or whatever, but I want something that supports playing my ... totally legally acquired content... and Netflix/Disney/iPlayer/etc. In a package that's silent and low power.

Doesn't seem to exist unfortunately. I guess the closest is Nvidia Shield. You can apparently still sideload APKs onto that... for now. I'll buy one when they release an update. I'm patient!

presbyterian2• 1 month ago

If you’re already DIYing, set up a Jellyfin server and then any of the streaming boxes will work.

NetMageSCW• 1 month ago

Apple TV.

CrimsonCape2• 1 month ago

Yeah, this space seems pretty sparse. Some of the Radxa SBCs are getting closer to a hardware solution for your vision, but there isn't real mainstream software. A self-hosted DNLA server is probably the most realistic option but DNLA has seemed to fall by the wayside in favor of paid streaming and plex/jellyfin.

That said, Tailscale did not exist when DNLA was popular, and DNLA over Tailscale seems a really promising non-jellyfin avenue.

Ultimately the problem will be lack of hardware decoders and poor interop with Dolby, DTS, etc.

https://bret.dk/radxa-dragon-q8b-a-laptop-cosplaying-as-an-s...

newaccountman25• 1 month ago

I would not recommend Apple TV. I like the computers and the phone, but the TV is disappoint. Would recommend Nvidia Shield or something.

What I am going to do down the line personally is just buy a gaming laptop and use that. Can play games via Steam and watch stuff via Windows apps (e.g. Netflix, Amazon Prime, Crunchyroll).

Only problem of course is the laptop will be pricier, but if someone was going to buy a tv streaming thing AND a gaming system of some kind, probably cheaper.

pickleglitch4• 1 month ago

I like the laptop idea, I'd go with Linux instead of Windows, and even then I think it would be a challenge to get it working well with a remote. Nvidia Shield is just Android TV, which means handing Google all your data. Of course, Apple TV means handing Apple all your data, but that seems like maybe the least bad option. I don't know, I'm just tired of all of this shit.

iwhalen• 1 month ago

If you already have a gaming desktop, I can recommend Shield for both. Streaming services work out of the box of course. Then I use Sunshine[1] on my desktop to stream to Moonlight on the Shield. Both have wired ethernet connections. Latency is not noticeable in most cases.

[1] https://app.lizardbyte.dev/Sunshine/

mplanchard3• 1 month ago

Agree Apple TV is not especially impressive (like, it’s fine, but I especially dislike the remote). I mostly just use my playstation, but there are some apps (criterion being the main one) that are not on the PS, so I use the Apple TV for those

giancarlostoro5• 1 month ago

They already own Tubi (think Hulu alternative) which I've used when literally no other streaming service had what I was looking for, and is surprisingly decent. I assume this is the beginning of their leap into streaming, wont be surprised if there's other acquisitions that will take place in similar spaces.

Personally I never bought into Roku because I didn't think they'd last very long.

jqpabc123• 1 month ago

Thankfully, I am Roku free.

throwatdem12311• 1 month ago

gross, is there any TV is that isn’t Google or Roku that is halfway decent?

Bring back dumb TVs

nosioptar• 1 month ago

I picked up an android TV box for $25 that works with LineageOS.

It sucks because its android, but at least its degoogled.

Edit: for a TV, I love my 30 year old Panasonic. Paid $20 for it at the Mormon goodwill. Only 720p, but has the best speakers of any TV I've owned.

anderber• 1 month ago

You can get an off-brand Android TV and install a custom launcher like https://at4klauncher.com/

Octoth0rpe2• 1 month ago

I was dreading my most recent tv purchase (last fall) for exactly this reason, and ended up with TCL google tv. One can apparently setup a google tv as a dumb tv and never sign it into the internet. It acts exactly how I'd want a dumb tv to work now, simply auto uses the most recent hdmi device, or the active one if the most recent one isn't active.

It has never connected to the internet, and it never will. My long term concern is that google will eventually put cell modems in their tvs, and then using my next tv as a dumb tv will no longer be an option. For now though, this is your best bet.

Induane• 1 month ago

You'll be able to stop the signal if they add cellular data. Still annoying though.

stereolambda• 1 month ago

Honest question: why doesn't the dumb TV crowd use old TVs (dunno, 10+ years old) as a replacement? Does image quality difference feel so dramatic? Maybe I don't care about this enough. To me the DVD fidelity was not earth-shattering but fine in practice. I do go to the cinema and see new TVs in stores, so it's not like I haven't seen better, just isn't worth a huge premium for me.

Other things I can think about is reliability of the screen (like dead pixels), and your family if not clued in may think you present as "poor".

superxpro12• 1 month ago

LG seems to still be somewhat agnostic.

tootie• 1 month ago

I was leery of of Tizen on my Samsung TV but it's fine

shhsshs• 1 month ago

"fine" is a very accurate word to describe Tizen. It's slow and really hard to find things sometimes (why do TVs not have a simple "input switch" button any more?), but ultimately it gets the job done.

You can make Tizen much faster by manually uninstalling the Samsung TV Plus app. It runs in the background constantly. "Much faster" is still slow overall, unfortunately.

KerrAvon• 1 month ago

LG + never log it in to the internet + an Apple TV box. The webOS UI sucks, but so do all the others apparently, and you never have to interact with it in practice if you use the Apple TV for streaming.

xnx3• 1 month ago

Google/Android TV seems totally fine and capable as long as you use a custom launcher to eliminate all the advertising on the home screen.

Google doesn't do scummy screen spying ("ACR", Automatic Content Recognition).

bsimpson2• 1 month ago

My parents bought an Amazon TV at Costco that is surprisingly responsive for being a smart TV.

fckgw2• 1 month ago

Buy an AppleTV box and don't connect the TV to WiFi.

pseudosavant3• 1 month ago

It is pretty easy to make a Roku TV dumb.

1. Remove the few pre-installed apps except the HDMI inputs you want.

2. Then disconnect wifi.

As long as the device you turn on does HDMI-CEC (which almost everything other than a PC does) it will automatically switch to the input that your device is connected to. If it doesn't, you just have to click on the input you want to switch to.

thm• 1 month ago

Gift link: https://www.wsj.com/business/deals/fox-roku-deal-f6e564f9?st...

thebiglebrewski• 1 month ago

So what are the alternatives?

I have mostly Frame TVs and a projector. I always loved the Roku experience, it really felt like the best media player software, they just kept improving it, and having all TVs on the ecosystem made it even better. One app for virtual remotes, bluetooth listening, searching with your phone keyboard, etc.

I don't want to go back to the Frame's software. I really like the Backdrops app and so many other features.

But it just seems like this acquisition can only accelerate the ensh*tification of Roku. They already changed the default home screen a few weeks ago to show recommendations, SO MANY ads, etc and you change it in settings.

But as other commentors have mentioned, now we'll probably have Fox News and Truth Social front and center whether we want it or not.

So many apps have DRM that prevent you from running it yourself in any way. Is there another way that lets you run Netflix, Paramount+, HBO, all the majors without any trouble that is as integrated as Roku, or at least anything heading in that direction?

hamburglar• 1 month ago

I don't want to go back to the Frame's software

It’s not really a viable option if you wanted to. I have two Frames and they both just keep deteriorating to the point they are pretty useless. I have added an appletv to one of them and it’s vastly improved the UX. Now the only thing I need to do with the Samsung software is the unreasonably slow task of switching inputs.

gaws7• 1 month ago

So what are the alternatives?

A dumb TV you can buy for cheap on Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist with an Nvidia Shield or a similar streaming device running Android.

giancarlostoro5• 1 month ago

I never liked the idea of Roku since I always felt like they could "go away at any moment" since that is all they sold basically.

Fun fact, Roku sells security cameras at Walmart, they're technically rebranded Wyze cameras (look just like them, same hardware) with Roku software on them. If you did buy one of those Roku cameras, maybe a good time to switch off to Wyze if you don't like this direction.

SirFatty• 1 month ago

"I never liked the idea of Roku since I always felt like they could "go away at any moment" since that is all they sold basically."

That's odd since they've been around for 23 years. I would understand that stance 20 years ago.

giancarlostoro5• 1 month ago

I first heard of them in the early 2010s so it was not that odd back then.

xnx3• 1 month ago

rebranded Wyze cameras

Is that even possible? IIRC Wyze cameras are whatever cheap Chinese OEM model thy find and can brand the firmware for. Seems as likely that Roku went to same OEM source.

giancarlostoro5• 1 month ago

https://support.roku.com/article/do-roku-smart-home-devices-...

pastor_williams• 1 month ago

A year ago I started moving away from Roku. I think they've always had ads on the home screen which I blocked with a DNS blocklist but the seasonal ad sections that continued popping up in the menu despite my continually blocking them wore on me. I've upgraded to an nvidia shield using projectivy launcher which allows me to set a customized and very clean interface with the just the apps I use and nothing else. I definitely recommend it.

blackjack_• 1 month ago

No the Home Screen ads were added in an update 2.5ish years ago. I know this because that is when I decided to disconnect my Roku tv from the internet rather than see ads when I turn my tv on.

I had been a pretty big Roku fan before that point as I had worked with them back in ~2017 and knew how locked down and sewn up they kept customer data, and only shared it in a very anonymized way. Obviously the situation has degraded in the recent years, and caused me to brick the functionality of a very expensive device.

Seems like it’s impossible to have a smart tv now that actually respects privacy, so back to dumb tvs and connections to pcs?

nerdsniper2• 1 month ago

I believe dumb TV’s are both more expensive and much harder to compare. I can’t find any dumb TV reviews on rtings.com for example.

People usually suggest commercial TV’s but its not clear how to determine which have comparable HDR gamut as consumer units. So it’s hard to figure out exactly what the premium is.

Is a $2,000 dumb/commercial TV equivalent to a $500 consumer TV or a $1600 one?

whalesalad• 1 month ago

As of 10am est their stock is down nearly 20%.

josefritzishere2• 1 month ago

It's a complete betrayal of the user base but I'm sure the CEO will get paid a big buyout so they'll go forward anyway.

stock_toaster2• 1 month ago

I've always wondered.. Why would a stock (roku in this case) trade below the acquisition price (currently showing around 141)? (160 in this case)

Does the market think this sale won't be approved by the current administration for some reason?

0cf8612b2e1e4• 1 month ago

Sure seems like free money. In normal times, there is a chance this could get blocked, but a favored media outlet of the administration seems a lock.

Also, look at the five day chart. Shot up from $120 on Friday. Bunch of insiders knew early.

dylan6048• 1 month ago

Ugh, Fox. I recently made the decision to not spend $10.99/month for their FoxOne app to stream World Cup matches. I decided to watch the Telemundo broadcasts instead, even though I don’t speak Spanish, just to not give Fox my money. If I were Roku user, this would definitely cause me to quit being a Roku user. I doubt I’d be the only one, but I also do not believe it will be enough total to be noticeable.

kleiba2• 1 month ago

I could not handle the Spanish commentary, though. I know that that's a real cultural gap on my side, but Spanish soccer commentary is something I could never get accustomed to - way too much talking for my taste, and I especially cannot relate at all to the goal "celebrations".

dylan6048• 1 month ago

I'd rather listen to that than give money to Fox. However, I'm learning that I understand a lot more Spanish that I would have thought. I know enough words that I can at least grasp what I think the topic is, but not the details. Almost like hearing parts of a conversation 3 groups down from you at the bar.

carlosjobim5• 1 month ago

Do you think people will throw away their perfectly functioning devices because of politics?

bigfishrunning2• 1 month ago

Nah, they'll just put a "i bought it before elon went crazy" sticker on their brand-new cybertruck.

People talk a big game, but really are unprincipled in general.

dylan6048• 1 month ago

No, that's why I said that if any one did, it would be so low of a number that nobody would notice.

enoint• 1 month ago

Waking up one day to see the Fox logo instead of Roku will remind people about the non consensual TV options in a hospital.

techgnosis• 1 month ago

lol yes, do you really think (some) people won't?

TheGrassyKnoll2• 1 month ago

Yes. If this goes through, my Roku is going to the Goodwill.

hightrix2• 1 month ago

Yes. I’ve been wanting to for a while. This is the final push to swap my streaming boxes.

Marsymars6• 1 month ago

FYI if you live in/near an urban area, you can probably get a ton of world cup matches with an antenna without directly giving Fox money.

dylan6048• 1 month ago

That's how I'm watching the games they carry on the main channel, but some games they have decided ratings do not justify playing in primetime. I have to flip over to Telemundo for those. I assumed that me saying Telemnudo broadcasts implied I was watching OTA broadcast.

crsv• 1 month ago

Timed my move from Roku devices to Apple TV just right it appears.

Noaidi2• 1 month ago

Can you get PlutoTV on Apple TV?

sphars• 1 month ago

According to this[0], yes it's available

[0] https://support.pluto.tv/s/article/PTV-On-which-devices-can-...

gaws7• 1 month ago

Only a matter of time before enshittification comes for Apple TV.

SG-• 1 month ago

I wonder how many TV brands that include Roku on their TVs will dump them going forward especially for the non-american markets.

voakbasda2• 1 month ago

Well, I certainly will never buy another one. I doubt I am alone.

Sadly there are enough loyal fanatics that I can imagine they will continue to be sold indefinitely.

carlosjobim5• 1 month ago

Wouldn't somebody who boycotts a company to boycott a different company to boycott a third company be the fanatic in this case?

voakbasda2• 1 month ago

If this happens, our Roku TV is going in the trash. They locked out their customers of their own devices by pushing updated firmware that forced agreement to new terms. They lost my trust during that episode, and this move shows that was the right decision.

Meanwhile, Fox lost my respect decades ago. The idea that they could gain network level access to one of my devices cannot be reconciled with my need to feel secure and safe in my own home.

Anyone wanna take the opportunity to share their favorite brands and models of dumb TVs?

riahi• 1 month ago

Any but never connect it to the internet and use an appletv

999900000999• 1 month ago

I think I’m going with a Google TV. I already trust them on my phones anyway.

If you want more control buy a pc monitor and some speakers or commercial display.

gaws7• 1 month ago

Anyone wanna take the opportunity to share their favorite brands and models of dumb TVs?

You can find them in your local Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist region.

internet101010• 1 month ago

The closest thing you will fine to a dumb tv is a commercial display, which will not be available with the latest OLED, 120hz, etc.

You have to buy a smart TV and disable the internet + external device like Apple TV or Nvidia Shield.

bigfishrunning2• 1 month ago

I use a sony projector as my tv -- it's a finicky expensive device, but the picture is good and there's no apps or network connection on it

HardwareLust• 1 month ago

Ok, so now that Roku is dead, what alternatives do we have?

0cf8612b2e1e4• 1 month ago

Also quite interested in this. I guess the best contenders are Apple TV, Nvidia Shield, or roll your own HTPC.

gaws7• 1 month ago

A dumb TV you can buy for cheap on Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist with an Nvidia Shield or a similar streaming device running Android.

1970-01-01• 1 month ago

"Somehow, Roku to become even worse."

gdulli• 1 month ago

I switched from Roku to Xbox for Plex because of how Roku has degraded, and not only did I get the primary benefit of being off Roku, but I found the Xbox Plex app has not been updated to the terrible new redesign so it was a double win.

gaws7• 1 month ago

With Xbox's planned "reinvention" under the new CEO, consider the Plex app's days on the console numbered.

kpw94• 1 month ago

I did the opposite switch:

In ~2015 got an Xbox one, as a media center it was an awesome experience:

Kinect voice control to play/pause and other things way before Google home/Amazon echo ecosystem were mature.

Free OTA channels via TV tuner and well designed OneGuide (with ability to pause and rewind).

And of course all the Netflix and other apps, Plex server etc.

But strategically it seems Microsoft decided they wanted to look more like Playstation, focused on gaming (at that time paid Xbox live subscription vs free Playstation)

And as gaws points out, they seem to recently announce to double down on the gaming stuff.

So when they discontinued OneGuide. I picked Roku since they seem to be focused on the media experience primarily... but unsure how I feel about this acquisition news.

josefritzishere2• 1 month ago

I'm going to assume now that Fox will ruin Roku. Any suggestions for replacement devices?

gaws7• 1 month ago

A dumb TV you can buy for cheap on Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist with an Nvidia Shield or a similar streaming device running Android.

dkresge• 1 month ago

Seems like an excellent startup opportunity? Build a clean, no-ads streaming stick with open source firmware upstream of the requisite DRM bits and who wouldn't buy one? Almost like what Roku used to be, and the reason we recommended it, for so many years.

xnx3• 1 month ago

This sounds great to me, but the mainstream market has shown they probably wouldn't pay even $5 more for such a device when something they think is good enough is built into the TV.

jubilanti• 1 month ago

Because it will cost 2-4x compared to a Roku, Amazon Fire, or other device sold below cost and subsidized with ad/VC money. And in order to work on the DRMed streaming platforms, you have to play along with the industry. Can't just relabel a random box from Shenzhen, "upstream of the requisite DRM bits" makes no sense.

The original NVIDIA Shield is more than 10 years old at this point and still sells used for around $100 and people are still paying $200 retail for a new 2019 Pro. Interestingly, that price has basically stayed flat at $200 from 2020 to 2026. You can install Lineage or whatever if you don't care about the DRM. It's exactly what HN people want, and that's how much it costs.

sciencejerk• 1 month ago

No ads on Nvidia shield?

0cf8612b2e1e4• 1 month ago

Can you clarify the DRM comment? Do streaming services not work or they get downscaled to some garbage resolution?

I am looking for options and being able to sideload on a Shield is attractive, but if the experience is no different than a homemade Linux HTPC, I can save the cash.

whywhywhywhy• 1 month ago

requisite DRM bits

This is full on Google Play Services certification and more. Ultimately to get the thing that can run/stream Netflix etc the amount of work just isn't viable for the price point people would pay for this.

Also the truth is no investor would touch this on hardware sale income alone, needs some subscription plan at least.

Roku was always a weird one, beloved by people who couldn't stand laggy built in TV interface but doesn't really offer much beyond what TVs come with anyway.

anon7000• 1 month ago

Where is anti-trust in this country? Absolutely absurd the levels of media consolidation we’re seeing under billionaires right now.

gaws7• 1 month ago

You have the Trump administration and the Congressional Republicans to thank.

kylemaxwell• 1 month ago

Media consolidation is actively encouraged by the current regime in the US because it lets them have more control.

mike_bob2• 1 month ago

Biden signed a few anti-trust acts into law and also issued executive order 14036 to try to reign in anti-competitive practices. Trump quite literally revoked every one of these within his first month returning to office, calling them "bad for business".

Who is it actually bad for? The consumers. The new religious-linked GOP no longer believes in fairness or holding business accountable for anything, it's "God's will" or something...

jauntywundrkind• 1 month ago

Also note that this gives Fox News viewership data for all Roku devices!

Powell Memorandum (1971) intensifies, with corporate buy out of all society's core media functions by extremist conservatives radically racing ahead.

nrmitchi• 1 month ago

I may be lambasted for saying this, but I do not believe that Fox (or any large media company, really) should be permitted to purchase direct access to the TV hardware of roughly 30-50% of american households.

airstrike4• 1 month ago

that law does not exist, probably because not enough people feel that way

thinkingtoilet2• 1 month ago

Your reasoning does not stand at all. There are plenty of things that the majority of people agree upon in this country but it does not get done for a variety of reasons. For example, it's not as important as other issues so they can't prioritize it for voting, gerrymandering, etc...

harimau777• 1 month ago

Or because the Epstein class has used their stranglehold of the media and politics to push that belief.

Silamoth• 1 month ago

That’s a pretty naive model of how laws get passed in the US. A lot of laws would be different if your model held true.

joshstrange2• 1 month ago

s/people/money

As if the will of the people is what matters... Only if those people are backed by money does matter. I don't agree with that, but that's the world we live in.

njovin• 1 month ago

Much in the same way that the company selling tickets and taking a percentage of all ticket resales shouldn't also own the venues which can then force artists to use a specific ticketing provider, thus creating a monopoly.

We have antitrust laws in the US but they do us absolutely no good when the government refuses to even consider enforcing them, which seems to be the case in the past few decades.

mike_bob2• 1 month ago

Biden passed some of the toughest anti-trust laws in the past 20 years, but Trump repealed them quite literally in the first month he returned to office, calling anti-trust legislation as "bad for business".

TMWNN• 1 month ago

RCA owned NBC until 1986, when it was bought by GE. GE soon exited the TV business, but retained NBC for another two decades.

kylehotchkiss• 1 month ago

The Fox News audience has been told to passionately disagree with you.

Schiendelman2• 1 month ago

On the other hand, that would mean no Apple TV, no Fire TV stick... I suspect that would have downsides for the market.

adamrezich• 1 month ago

There's a huge difference between making your own streaming box that people have to buy in order to use, and buying the company that makes the streaming box built into basically every new TV.

donohoe• 1 month ago

I used to love Roku. I even went through their early developer stuff to play with custom channels. It was clear many years ago that their shift form platform to ad provider was underway. Why can't a company always be amazing at something and just stick to that (looking at you Dropbox)?

I have a Roku TV an dmy setup is simple:

- Disable wifi on Roku TV

- Add Apple TV and connect to router

dhosek• 1 month ago

I had to look to see whether this was NewsCorp Fox or Disney Fox. In the 00s I did some contract work at Fox Filmed Entertainment (the part of the company later bought by Disney) which was introduced during interviews as Fox Filmed Entertainment We Have Nothing To Do With Fox News.

evan_• 1 month ago

It's the Murdoch one.

ben4next2• 1 month ago

Whats the relevancy here of which Fox subsidiary you did contract work for as it relates to the Roku offer?

asveikau5• 1 month ago

These aren't subsidiaries of each other. They're different companies with different ownership. So the name Fox is ambiguous.

infermore• 1 month ago

the comment starts by introducing the possibility of confusion between two entities. the further color added via personal anecdote might help put readers in the commenter's shoes

WorldMaker• 1 month ago

Disney has been slowly but delicately clipping the name Fox out of the company names and public facing brands it bought, presumably to further distance from the remaining parts at News Corp (Fox News): 20th Century Fox to 20th Century Studios (which is a sort of funny unwinding of the 1935 merger, I think especially because 20th Century is now such a dated term), Fox Searchlight to Searchlight Pictures, things like that. Most of those brands also generally now report on the org charts directly to their pre-existing Disney counterparts or as direct peers to them and the "Fox Filmed Entertainment" middle layer seems to be almost entirely gone now (as there's no replacement for that name).

At this point it does seem easier to not have to look up if something is NewsCorp Fox or the parts of Fox that Disney bought because Disney no longer calls them Fox.

gertrunde• 1 month ago

I can't really see this ending well for the end user, however well it does/doesn't end for the stakeholders.

I thought Roku took off due to their focus on the streaming platform itself, and being agnostic to the streaming services that could be accessed via that platform. Having one specific content producer buy that platform feels like it destroys or devalues the USP of the platform, at least from the point of view of the consumer/end-user.

Or is this just another step in the relentless enshittification of all services?

hvs• 1 month ago

I used Rokus for years (happily) but they slowly began to degrade the experience with ads on their home screen (that were often not appropriate for children). Due to an unrelated project that required me to purchase an AppleTV I was quickly amazed at how much better their product was. Fast and clean. Never going back.

sanex• 1 month ago

I feel the same about disney when they started adding hulu content to the main app.

nazgulsenpai2• 1 month ago

I bought a 42" Hisense Roku TV for like $120 with no prior research from Walmart a few years ago when my old plasma finally passed through to the great beyond. The interface was so clean and pleasant to use and there aren't ads stuffed everywhere.

Went to a friend's house and he had a Roku Express player and his was littered with ads and the whole UI was Christmas themed.

Moral of the story is pihole is OP.

malfist• 1 month ago

That works until the ads are hosted from the same domain name

nazgulsenpai2• 1 month ago

Then my little Celeron junker will also double as a router. Probably going to have do that anyway since YouTube on PS4 and Roku both serve adds from (what I assume are) hardcoded IP addresses.

holistio• 1 month ago

I remember when Google buying YouTube for $1.6b sounded crazy. And then when then-Facebook Meta bought WhatsApp for 10 times that.

$22b.

Are there any companies left that are not in the decabillion range?

TheCondor• 1 month ago

That's what I took notice of... About half their revenue is subscription and about half is advertising. 100m users. $220 per home? I would think that's high.

They certianly have enough to ice the carriers out. I wonder what an HBOMax subscription will cost in a year, I bet a fair bit more.

carlosjobim5• 1 month ago

Yes, hundreds of thousands of companies, if you are interested. But you're here.

Seattle3503• 1 month ago

Time for Graphene based streaming boxes?

asveikau5• 1 month ago

Should we expect the Roku apps for non-Fox content to break? That was kind of the selling point of Roku, that it was relatively streaming platform agnostic, not tied to one of the big players.

carlosjobim5• 1 month ago

What do you think? Does it make sense that Fox would invest the entire value of their own company for that end goal?

frollogaston• 1 month ago

The Amazon Firestick works with other services but heavily promotes Amazon stuff. I'd expect it to be like that.

asveikau5• 1 month ago

It depends. If they have the foresight to know that alienating their existing install base is a bad thing, then maybe they will put in a shoestring budget to keep the lights on for the old stuff.

Apocryphon• 1 month ago

Wonder what they will do with Howdy, their paid service.

ritzaco• 1 month ago

Are they just following the Succession plot line now?

LightBug1• 1 month ago

WTF? .. yuck

Well, it's been 5 years ... time to switch out my Roku for something better ...

One of the great things about Roku is it's minimal expense ... which means I won't think twice to swap out for anything else.

VeninVidiaVicii• 1 month ago

Looks like it’s time to cut my TCL-Roku TV off from the internet forever now.

hoppyhoppy2• 1 month ago

FOX will still own all your viewing history (years?) to use for behavioral marketing, etc. even if they don't have your current watching preferences.

mikey_p• 1 month ago

I've already been wanting to get rid of my Roku TVs and boxes for awhile now, they tend to be slow and buggy lately which requires ALOT of restarting.

Before Roku I spent 2005-2018 on various TiVo systems including whole house with minis and the cable-card system. Was thinking of quitting that for awhile, but the Rovi/Macrovision acquisition was definitely the writing on the wall.

Guess it's time to try an Apple TV as it seems like the only semi-premium option available.

alsetmusic• 1 month ago

Great. Let’s further expand the Murdoch empire. Consolidate, consume, merge, absorb. This never ends poorly for the customer. /s

bilalq• 1 month ago

The right wing takeover of media continues unchecked.

Fnoord• 1 month ago

A company with the business practices of Fox News I will not buy services or products from. Same with regards to Oracle.

I actually regret buying a Nvidia Shield TV. Yes, software support might be there. But what isn't there is the interface (without advertising, the cancer of the world) it came with. Thanks to Google. Thanks to Google, my children are now forced to see inappropriate advertising when the TV gets powered on.

valicord• 1 month ago

It's very easy to block the Shield home screen ad with pihole

tredre33• 1 month ago

I don't know why you blame Google, as if Nvidia wasn't the one who made the device, chose the software, and sold it to you.

Were they held at gun point by Google? Is there a contractual obligation to not ship their own ads-free launcher instead of randomly switching back to Google's? Are they not the one packaging and distributing the software?

telcal• 1 month ago

Install Projectivy Launcher. No more ads and you can customize everything.

fckgw2• 1 month ago

Roku's hardware business is only 10% of their revenue now. The vast majority of their income comes from their FAST streaming service, which they promote heavily on their devices.

They haven't been platform agnostic for a while now. Swapping out one streaming owner for another really isn't going to move the needle much.

jm4• 1 month ago

This is the next MySpace deal.

kgwxd3• 1 month ago

Everyone's finally about to learn why it's dumb as hell to let an app store be built into your display.

pm90• 1 month ago

I moved away from Roku to a Google TV (as recommended by wirecutter). Its quite fast and remembers my history better. However it is Google so who knows how long it lasts.

I don’t like the idea of Roku being owned by anyone, let alone Fox.

tiahura• 1 month ago

Glad that at least one of the Amiga guys finally gets rich.

l72• 1 month ago

As someone who has canceled all my subscriptions and just uses Jellyfin for 100% of my content, what are some good options besides a Roku?

I would love to have hardware like Roku, but just run a jellyfin client, with no need to even have Internet, just access to my jellyfin server on my local network.

It would need to be family approved as I don't need another project. I am not interested in AppleTV or a Google device (unless it can be 100% degoogled).

Has anyone ever successfully gotten things like CoreELEC/LibreELEC to work well?

I wish jellyfin would just sell some hardware, preloaded with a great jellyfin client. I'd pay a premium for it to help fund software development.

fl4regun• 1 month ago

why not just keep an HDMI cable and a laptop near you and hook it up when you want to watch something? It can basically do everything these little tv boxes do and more, you probably already own a laptop capable of this and the hdmi cable, and you don't have to worry about ads. The toughest part might be if you have 4k videos to drive the display.

iAMkenough• 1 month ago

Usually comes down to convenience for my family members.

Any recommendations on a voice remote control for a TV-connected PC?

PC also needs to support TV power on/off and input switch via HDMI CEC, as well as a launcher to easily switch between the 2-3 streaming apps we use with our remote control.

aidenn0• 1 month ago

Kodi has a decent Jellyfin client. I only switched away from it because streaming services would break periodically. I ran it with LibreELEC on a random ARM SBC at first, then switched to using a NUC with a standard linux distro. The Pulse8 CEC adapter is a must if you go the latter route.

AppleTV with Infuse (note that Infuse is neither free as in "beer" nor "speech") is what I use now for Jellyfin and video content. I haven't found a good client for playing music with Jellyfin on AppleTV. Moonfin (libre, available for 10 platforms) is getting there, but still too buggy to daily-drive.

greenbit3• 1 month ago

When roku decided that Amazon was the rightful owner of my fastforward button about a year and a half ago, that nearly got it tossed, but since Netflix was still behaving, I still have my roku. But if (as I suspect) we're about to behold the power of this fully functional ad-server, it WILL go directly into the e-waste.

Arainach2• 1 month ago

Amazon was the rightful owner of my fastforward button

What do you mean by this? The back button is involved in system UI and apps should be limited in their ability to steal it, but fast forward is an action that makes no sense outside the context of an app

Benanov• 1 month ago

Can't skip ahead to sections of their content you want to view and instead are forced to watch it in sequence.

Either that or can't skip ads, ala legal dvd playback

codazoda2• 1 month ago

Daily Roku user here. I'm not sure what you mean about Amazon and the fastforward button.

greenbit3• 1 month ago

Apparently leading up to Amazon prime video inflicting ads where no ads had gone before, they put out a requirement to streaming device manufacturers that said devices needed to support the ability of the source to disable certain buttons. Couldn't have people fast-forwarding through the precious ads, now could they?

So when they just stop your show to try to sell insurance or whatever, and you try to ffwd through that noise, you get a little caption that informs you that "fast forward is not available during ads".

wnevets• 1 month ago

The last thing the world needs is even more media consolidation.

digital_voodoo• 1 month ago

Such a good sign that my (very) old Roku 3 died just yesterday, out of the blue.

graphememes• 1 month ago

so is it gonna be called the foku or foxu?

thunky• 1 month ago

Used to have Roku. Switched to Google TV / Chromecast. So much better. Now when I see Roku it's like going back in time, like seeing an iPod.

yobid20• 1 month ago

bye bye roku tvs. hello google.

ElijahLynn• 1 month ago

Glad I didn't buy a Roku...

tonymet• 1 month ago

i admire how fabulous Roku performance has always been, and how they continue to support older devices. i just updated an 8 year old Roku to the latest OS and it runs great. all the apps are fast. I looked at the hardware specs and it's at or below most of the competitors, but the software is just that great.

genxy• 1 month ago

Pretty awesome that Fox now has access to all Roku user's watch history.

gxs• 1 month ago

This sucks

On the one hand - you’re happy for the entrepreneurs

On the other, every single thing I hate as a consumer happens because of lack of competition and these acquisitions that old dinosaurs use to prop themselves up

Every single one - I don’t think I’m exaggerating

Not particularly heart broken about Roku at this point, but still bugs me to see

ramon156• 1 month ago

If you're going to do shady shit, do it while the orange man is still in charge

kennywinker2• 1 month ago

If the US had even half-competent anti-trust enforcement, this wouldn’t be allowed to go thru.

sidcool• 1 month ago

Waystar Royco and Gojo?

Mistletoe• 1 month ago

Never more happy with my recent purchase of an Apple TV 4K. No ads ever, metal remote, amazing sound and video quality.

paulvnickerson• 1 month ago

Thats interesting - I didn't know foxes watched TV.

ahmdnassir1• 1 month ago

I use Apple TV on every TV and skip the TV's built-in apps entirely. Plex is my main app—reliable and predictable. YouTube is a close second despite having awful UI/UX.

zbikowski• 1 month ago

People interested in jumping ship should consider a Google TV box (I have the onn. 4K from Walmart, I think I paid $40). In app-only mode (accessible deep in the settings,) there is only one advertisement on the homescreen, and it's quite responsive. Install apps such as Plex, Stremio, etc. without hassle. Programmable buttons on the remote, controls my Denon receiver just fine, very few complaints. Just my 2c.

* THIS IS NOT A PAID ADVERTISEMENT *

baggachipz5• 1 month ago

I'm sure it will work fine until they abandon it in a year or two, like the preceding platform, and the one before that, and the one before that.

jordanpg• 1 month ago

(simple, non-complicated consumer) Alternatives I'm aware of are:

Amazon Fire TV

Apple TV

Smart TV built-ins

Are there any others?

spprashant• 1 month ago

The US really is just allowing all sorts of horizontal and vertical mergers. There is enough economic theory to suggest this is a net negative for consumers. We are powering through it anyway.

sirspacey• 1 month ago

RIP Roku. Built our whole streaming life around it, guess that’s on a clock now.

Fox to buy Roku

Related Stories