Roku is paying $185 million to acquire Frndly TV, a provider of low-cost TV bundles delivered via streaming.
The all-cash deal includes $75 million in holdbacks tied to certain performance targets and milestones over the next two years.
Roku announced the deal at the same time it reported first-quarter earnings, with revenue rising 16% to $1.02 billion.
The deal, which is expected to close during the current April-to-June quarter, brings another scaled tech player into the world of internet-delivered pay-TV. The sector is currently dominated by YouTube TV, which has 8 million subscribers. Disney is also making moves in the space, having agreed to acquire Fubo earlier this year, giving it 6 million subscribers between Fubo and Hulu + Live TV.
Denver-based Frndly operates at the lower end of the price spectrum, with plans offering dozens of general-entertainment channels for $7 to $13 a month. After
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