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The streaming wars have seen giants of entertainmentNetflix, Disney, Warner Bros. Discoveryduke it out for consumers, each with a fast-growing library of original movies and TV to keep viewers coming back. Roku is a bit of a dark horse in this race. But the platform’s recent hit series Solo Traveling with Tracee Ellis Ross suggests the scrappy underdog might just become a real contender. At the Fast Company Innovation Festival in New York this week, Roku head of originals Brian Tannenbaum told the crowd it all started with a text message. Ross’s agent sent Tannenbaum just a handful of words: “Tracee Ellis Ross. Solo travel show.” It was enough. You only need to hear Ross speak once to know why. The daughter of legendary Motown singer Diana Ross, a theater graduate from Brown University, and an eight-year veteran of hit comedies Girlfriends and Black-ish, Ross knows how to thrill audiences. “It’s televisionyou want to give them a show, you know?” she said on stage at the festival. “You want a belt, you want a shoe, you want to give ’em a little razzle-dazzle.” The show premiered on the free, ad-funded Roku Channel in July. Over three episodes, Ross journeys solo across Morocco, Mexico, and Spainschlepping four checked bags through busy airports; seeking serenity in the sound of birds chirping and winds whistling between trees; and quipping away the awkwardness of dining in a restaurant as a party of one. It’s since become Roku’s most-watched unscripted original series. A catalyst for magic That’s a big deal for Roku, which is known for hooking up streaming devices, but less for making art itself. On paper, Solo Traveling had a fitting recipe for a brand thatas far as The Roku Channel goesis perhaps still on the riverbanks of mainstream. It blends a quirky host with the premise of going it aloneand it opts, daringly, to do this all unscripted. Something clicked with its timing, too. Solo Traveling has struck a nerve today, five years after the isolation of the COVID pandemic, when anxiety over the economy, politics, and climate change is heightened, and a loneliness epidemic persists. The zeitgeist feels more doom-and-gloom than everand there’s desperation for escapism. Is that why the show took off? In the unscripted space, “the best shows are the ones you can see yourself in,” says Tannenbaum. What would it be like if I was singing on American Idol? Or if I were on an island, like Survivor? Or, if I were traveling solo?” Throw in a dynamite host, and the power of top-notch production, engineering, marketing teams, and “when those catalysts combine, that’s when you get the magic,” he adds. Ross has a different take on the appeal of traveling alone. “If you’re not waiting for a certain thing, or a certain person, to go out and live your life, what would that look like?” she asks. “If you’re not allowing culture and society and the norms to tell you who you should be, what would you be doing?” She isn’t afraid to be honest: For Ross, flaunting her fashion wardrobe plays a major rolehence the four checked bags. “I will never stop loving clothing and buying clothing,” she says, “and travel is an opportunity for me to adorn myself and create a sense of joy and beauty for myself out in the world.” Seeing a brave new world In 2018, Ross added “entrepreneur” to her resume by founding Pattern Beauty, a hair care line designed for natural hair that’s been picked up by retailers like Sephora, Ulta, Target, and Macy’s. She’s also been vocal about staying single into her 50s. “I don’t have children, but I made a company,” she says. “We all get lonely. It’s not evidence that my life is broken. It is evidence that I am a human being.” She added, “I wanted to bring some of that forward [in the show] because there must be some examples that are between Joan of Arc and cat ladies . . . And I have worked very hard to become the badass professional that I am.” Meanwhile, Solo Traveling was just as much a foray for Roku as it was for Ross. Founded by an ex-Netflixer in 2002, the company became synonymous with cord-cutting, dominating that transient moment after consumers began ditching cable but before the technology to screencast from mobile apps existed. Its first “box,” released in 2008, was revolutionary, allowing users to play Netflix on TVs via the internet. Today, Roku is a $15 billion company that’s cornered the market on streaming TV operating systems, reaching 90 million American households. But the focus its own content came later. The Roku Channel debuted in 2017, but Roku didn’t start making original content until 2021 (after it bought the library from the defunct streaming service Quibi). In August, it ventured into streaming services with Howdy, a $2.99-a-month subscription. For now, both Roku and Ross are just exploring. At one point in Solo Traveling, Ross muses, “Not having long relationships, not having children, has allowed me to explore things of my own humanity . . . It has deposited me here, at 52, in an experience filled with joy, loneliness, grief, delightall of it.” “It’s a reflection of what I care about in the world,” she said at the festival. “And I don’t mean me. I mean the idea that we all get to craft our own lives, that we get to live our lives on our own terms . . . It’s somebody telling the truth.”
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E-Commerce
With the ink barely dry on its deal to buy Paramount, Skydance is reportedly already looking to roll up another major entertainment company. Paramount Skydance is working on an offer to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, a media mega-brand that owns disparate brands ranging from CNN and DC Studios to HBO. CNBC reports that the mostly-cash bid would price Warner Bros. Discovery at around $22 to $24 per share. Skydance, now Paramount Skydance, was founded by Oracle co-founder Larry Ellisons son David Ellison, who operates the company as its CEO. His sister, Megan Ellison, is already an established name in Hollywood as the founder of independent film production house Annapurna Pictures. With Paramount in its quiver, Skydance now owns Paramount Pictures, Paramount+, CBS, CBS News, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and Showtime, among other entertainment properties. If the company succeeds with rumored plans to buy Warner Bros., it would also pick up Warner Bros. Pictures, DC Studios, DC Comics, Turner Classic Movies, New Line Cinema, HBO, HBO Max, CNN, the Discovery Channel, the Travel Channel, TBS, TNT, Warner Bros. theme parks. Warner Bros. Discovery is currently worth north of $45 billion. Shortly after the deal closed, Ellisons Paramount announced a $7.7 billion deal to stream all UFC fights in the U.S. for the next seven years. The partnership reportedly doubles what ESPN was paying to air UFC matches a mark of Ellisons aggressive approach. Warner Bros. plans interrupted If Skydance Paramount lands Warner Bros. Discovery, the merger would interrupt the latters plans to split itself into two public companies by 2026. In June, Warner Bros. Discovery announced that it would divide its assets into two parts: a streaming and studios company and a global networks company. The streaming company would peel off DC Studios, HBO, HBO Max, Warner Bros. Television and Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group while the latter would focus on sports, news and traditional TV, including CNN, TNT Sports, Discovery and Bleacher Report. This separation will invigorate each company by enabling them to leverage their strengths and specific financial profiles. This will also allow each company to pursue important investment opportunities and drive shareholder value,” Warner Bros. Discovery CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels said of the plan. While massive media consolidation is the name of the game in recent years, Warner Bros. wouldnt have been the first entertainment giant opting to divide and conquer. Late last year, Comcast announced that it would spin a chunk of its portfolio off into its own cable TV and digital media-focused entity initially called SpinCo and since renamed to Versant. Its portfolio of brands is set to include USA, CNBC, MSNBC, E!, Rotten Tomatoes and Fandango. The Ellison family builds a media behemoth As an outsider media company, Skydance is uniquely positioned to make splashy moves on entrenched entertainment giants. Thats largely thanks to its links to the elder Ellison, who earlier this month briefly surpassed Elon Musk as the richest man in the world. Oracles stock has soared by more than 40% in 2025, driven by cloud revenue and planned AI investments, including an eye-watering $300 billion 5-year deal with OpenAI. Oracles name has also long been linked to a plan to force ByteDance to sell TikTok to a U.S-based owner that was initiated during the first Trump administration but still hasnt come to pass. David Ellison is moving swiftly to consolidate media companies under his banner and it likely has the political goodwill with the Trump administration to succeed. Skydances $8.4 billion merger with entertainment industry pillar Paramount was approved by the FCC in July. That same month, Paramount paid $16 million to settle a lawsuit from the Trump administration targeting it and CBS News over an interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris. While many legal experts viewed the $10 billion lawsuit as frivolous, Paramounts decision to settle was criticized as a bid to endear itself to the Trump administration. A week prior to the FCC approval, CBS announced that it would kill Stephen Colberts The Late Show, which regularly lambasts Trump. After Paramount decided to settle, Colbert famously denounced the decision as a big fat bribe. The Ellison familys unimaginable wealth certainly positions it well to fulfill its ambitious media dreams, but Larry Ellisons history as a Trump ally might prove just as potent. The Trump administration has wielded its regulatory power in shocking ways that are already reshaping the media landscape, which is in a period of unprecedented consolidation. Earlier this week, ABC pulled Jimmy Kimmel Live! off the air after the late night host accused Trump supporters of leveraging Charlie Kirks death for political gain and insinuated that Kirks shooter may have been aligned with the political right. Echoing conservative backlash against Kimmel, FCC Chair Brendan Carr criticized the hosts comments and threatened to use the regulatory agencys might under Trump to punish its detractors a threat that seemed to prompt instant action from ABC. I mean, we can do this the easy way or the hard way, Carr said. These companies can find ways to change conduct and take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or theres going to be additional work for the FCC ahead. Carrs comments and ABCs apparent capitulation inspired an outpouring of concern that the Trump administration is violating the First Amendment by wielding its power directly to quell its critics. Even some Republicans have expressed free speech concerns, including Senator Ted Cruz, who characterized the Kimmel situation dangerous as hell and right out of Goodfellas.
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Some moments shift your perspective. My moment arrived in an email from my boss with a simple subject line: You should take a look at this presentation as it will prepare you for your new role. Attached was a deck titled How to be a creative director without sucking at it by Rodd Chant. It was about how to reshape the approach to leadership. The presentation was full of insights, but one slide stood out and stopped me cold: Make decisions. Two simple words. But they landed with weight. I thought back to the most frustrating leadership moments Id experienced over my career. Times when progress stalled, morale dipped, and teams struggled to stay on course. The common thread was indecision. Leaders who hesitated, deferred, or avoided making the call. Leaders who chose based on fear of being wrong rather than belief in what was right. That document didnt just offer advice. It sparked a moment of clarity. I realized that my respect for leaders had always been tied to their willingness to decide, especially when the stakes were high and the answers werent obvious. The foundation of leadership As I stepped into the biggest leadership role of my career, I made a promise to myself that decision making wouldnt be just one skill in my toolkit, but the foundation of my leadership. This doesnt mean making decisions hastily or pretending to have all the answers. Instead, its about recognizing that leadership requires clarity and courage. It means taking the time to understand the situation, listening to others, and then choosing a direction youre willing to stand behind. Even when the path forward is uncertain, leaders must be willing to make bold moves and lead with purpose. Every decision you makeor avoidtells your team something about you. Remember, they are always paying attention and asking themselves: Can I trust this person to make tough calls? Will they stand behind their choices? Do they see the bigger picture? My goal is for my team to answer yes with confidence, optimism, and respect. Not because I always have the perfect answer, but because I consistently choose to lead with conviction and courage. Kelly Hiller is the chief marketing officer of Purdue University.
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