Fox completed its acquisition of Roku and immediately replaced several senior streaming executives, a move that puts free ad-supported services and paid subscriptions under a single direct-to-consumer structure.
The highest-profile exits are Roku media president Charlie Collier and Tubi chief Anjali Sud. Sud is leaving for another opportunity and will help through the transition. Roku general counsel Chris Handman and AdRise executive Robyn Peterson are also departing.
In a staff memo, Anthony Wood and Paul Cheesebrough said the combined Tubi Media Group will now be called Fox Digital Platforms and will organize around five priorities: platform share and engagement, free ad-supported streaming leadership, premium subscriptions, performance advertising, and global growth.
The new digital leadership, at a glance
- Mustafa Ozgen becomes CEO of Roku, adding AdRise advertising product and engineering, The Roku Channel, streaming services partnerships, Roku subscriptions, Howdy, Roku Pay and brand/creative to his remit.
- Pete Distad, CEO of Fox Direct-to-Consumer, adds Tubi and Frndly TV, bringing free and subscription services together.
- Mike Bidgoli is promoted to president of Tubi, reporting to Distad.
- Lisa Holme, head of content for The Roku Channel, reports to Distad and will coordinate with Tubi’s content team.
- Advertising sales continue under Jeff Collins; Gil Fuchsberg becomes chief strategy officer.
Why this matters for media buyers
For media planners, the org chart is a buying signal. Fox is keeping one advertising sales spine under Jeff Collins while running Roku, Tubi and Frndly as separate brands. That creates room for cross-platform packages, shared measurement and combined ad-product roadmaps without waiting for a formal merger of the apps.
The memo also says Roku’s open platform, which has made it a distribution route for content partners, will remain open. Under Ozgen, the device and platform business stays broad, which should matter to any programmer or marketer using Roku’s OS and ad stack.
Free and paid under one roof
Moving Tubi and Frndly into Distad’s portfolio is the clearest strategic shift. Instead of managing free streaming separately from Fox’s subscription business, the company is aligning them under one executive, which makes bundle testing easier. The memo described Sud’s team as having taken Tubi from a challenger brand to a “free streaming force.”
That phrasing signals Fox intends to keep Tubi’s FAST identity while connecting it to paid services. The early test will be whether FOX One, Tubi and Frndly can be combined into offers that lift both reach and willingness to pay.
What to watch in the first 100 days
Fox is explicit that the long-term structure is not finished. It will operate around three core teams for the first 100 days, then make deeper decisions. The company’s creator-economy business, Red Seat Ventures, and financial marketplace Credible will continue to report to Cheesebrough, leaving creator-led content as a separate growth lane for now.
The practical signals for the market are content coordination between Tubi and The Roku Channel, subscription bundling, and how fast Roku’s ad products get folded into the larger Fox sales story. Buyers should map which inventory is available under one deal now, rather than assume that all services will be packaged identically from day one.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
