The Media Merger that Should Really Scare Democrats

The Murdochs are about to have massive influence on what millions of Americans watch

Last week, the Trump Administration approved Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Brothers/Discovery. This is the second major acquisition for David Ellison, a pro-Trump billionaire who has become even more slavishly pro-Trump while seeking regulatory approval. Ellison and Bari Weiss, his ideological henchwoman, will now control CBS and CNN.

Within a few short months, Ellison and Weiss have tried to functionally destroy 60 Minutes, and they probably have their eyes set on the CNN journalists who have tried to hold Trump accountable over the last few decades.

Paramount buying Warner Brothers is bad. Full stop.

But it’s not the media merger that scares me the most.

On Monday, Fox Corporation agreed to acquire Roku for $22 billion — the largest deal in the company’s history. Most of the coverage framed it as the Murdochs finally getting into the streaming business, where they have long lagged behind their competition. That’s true, but it buries the part that should worry anyone who cares about democracy.

Fox buying Roku is a very big deal, and in terms of political impact, it might end up being much larger than pro-Trump billionaires owning declining traditional media outlets.

Here’s why.

What Is Roku?

When most people think about Roku — to the extent that they think about Roku at all — they picture a hardware device like an Apple TV or an Amazon Fire Stick that plugs into your TV to let you access streaming content like Netflix, YouTube, and Disney+.

But Roku isn’t really a hardware company. It’s an operating system.