Roku Sacks All Fox Channels Just Days Before the Super Bowl Due to Carriage Dispute
Roku customers who were looking to watch Sunday’s Super Bowl on their Fox Sports app will need to change their game plan; Roku, just days before the big game, has removed Fox from its platform.
In a Thursday evening tweet, Roku said its agreement with Fox would expire on Friday and all “Fox channels were removed from the Roku Channel Store.”
A rep for Roku, which sells several different streaming devices, told CNET the company was continuing to negotiate with Fox in an effort to reach a new agreement.
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Fox, meanwhile, immediately pushed back against Roku. In a statement shared with TheWrap, Fox said the situation was a “naked effort” by Roku to use its “customers as pawns.” Fox added it’s a “poorly timed negotiating ploy” by Roku, and that the company is “fabricating a crisis with no thought for the alarm it generated among its own customers.”
For disappointed Roku customers, there is a loophole: They can watch Fox on Sunday by signing up for YouTube TV, Hulu with Live TV, Fubo or Sling TV; YouTube TV costs customers $50 a month, while Hulu’s live streaming service costs $55 per month. Roku didn’t hide this option from customers, even mentioning in its statement that viewers can find free trials for many of the services.
Another old school option for Roku customers, not looking to sign up for anything, would be to get an antenna for their TVs.
A Roku spokesperson, later on Friday morning, told TheWrap the game will also stream for free on the NFL channel “unless Fox blocks it.”
Also Read: Some Older Roku Devices Are About to Lose Netflix Support
The Super Bowl is set to air on Fox this Sunday at 6:30 p.m. ET, with the San Francisco 49ers taking on the Kansas City Chiefs in Miami.
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