Officials at the California Department of Justice are refusing to say whether the state’s top law enforcement office is investigating Fox Corporation’s proposed $22 billion deal to acquire connected television developer Roku.
Reached by e-mail on Monday, a spokesperson for California Attorney General Rob Bonta said the state’s DOJ was “unable to comment on, even to confirm or deny, any potential or ongoing investigations.”
In a broader sense, the spokesperson said the California DOJ “believes further consolidation in markets that are central to American economic life — whether in the financial, airline, grocery, or broadcasting and entertainment markets — does not serve the American economy, consumers, or competition well.”
“We are committed to protecting consumers and California’s economy from consolidation we find unlawful,” the spokesperson said.
Fox Corporation owns four licensed TV stations in California — two each in San Francisco and Los Angeles — and the company’s free streaming service Tubi is headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area. Roku’s headquarters are in San Jose.
Bonta has been an outspoken critic of large transactions involving media companies over the past year. California is currently one of several states participating in an ongoing lawsuit that seeks to reverse Nexstar Media Group’s acquisition of peer broadcaster TEGNA, with their lawsuit filed on antitrust grounds. In April, a federal judge overseeing the lawsuit issued a preliminary injunction that prevents Nexstar from commingling its operations with TEGNA while the case proceeds.
Bonta is also probing Paramount’s pending acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery (WBD), a deal that would unite two major film and television production studios with large operations in his state. The California DOJ has not committed itself to filing a lawsuit that would block the transaction, but Bonta told reporters last month he sees “red flags everywhere” when it comes to the deal.
Executives at Fox said their pending acquisition of Roku will unite two strong players in the TV advertising space. Data from Parks Associates showed it would also elevate the prominence of Roku and Fox’s free streaming services, placing them in greater competition with ad-supported video apps offered by Disney and Netflix.
In addition to the free streaming service Tubi and premium offerings Fox One and Fox Nation, Fox operates a number of linear TV channels, including Fox Weather, Fox News Channel, Fox Business Network, the Fox broadcasting network and more than two dozen local TV stations in key markets like New York, Seattle, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Roku owns the premium live TV service Frndly TV and the subscription service Howdy.
