Roku and Fox have reached a deal to keep Fox channels on the platform. This follows a busy 24 hours where the dispute came to light, caused much debate, and been resolved again.
Late yesterday, Roku begun emailing users advising that they were due to lose access to multiple standalone Fox channels on their Roku devices. At the time it was not made clear this was the result of a dispute between the two, although the reason was confirmed in later communications by both Fox and Roku. Fox blamed Roku saying it was choosing to remove the apps from the platform against its wishes, while Roku said Fox had refused to sign a new agreement forcing Roku into having to remove the channels from the platform.
The deadline to reach a deal was midnight, January 31, and the apps affected included FOX Sports, Fox News Channel, Fox Nation, FOX NOW, Fox Business Network, BTN+, and FOX Soccer Match Pass. Now, just a few hours before the channel removal was due to take effect, the two have agreed a new deal. Roku has providing a confirmation of the deal on social media, as well as part of an updated blog posting.
Super Bowl back on for Roku users
Disputes between companies over licensing rights is nothing new with blackouts often the result. However, this one caused far more outage than usual, and much quicker than usual, due to the Super Bowl taking place this Sunday. The big game is being show on Fox and this meant many Roku users were being forced to stream the game via another app, service, or in the worst case, device.
Along with confirming the new deal, Roku has explained that users should not see any interruption to their service between now and then. In other words, the Super Bowl will be accessible through the FOX Now and FOX Sports channels. This is in addition to the other ways users can access the game on a Roku device, such as the NFL app and through a live TV streaming service.
Source: Roku
