San Francisco, Jun 12 (IANS): Streaming giant Netflix that is struggling to retain long-term paid subscribers may acquire rival platform Roku, the media reported.

According to a report in Insider citing sources, Roku employees have long been speculating about the company being sold to Netflix.

The buyout would reportedly cost around $13 billion (based on its current valuation) and will give Netflix a foothold in the hardware market.

Both Netflix and Roku did not comment on the report.

The news came after US telecommunication conglomerate Comcast became frontrunner to acquire Roku last year.

The streaming companies saw their stock going up over the report last week.

Roku is best known for its streaming media devices and is now a software and services company. It offers the Roku Channel which is a free, ad-based streaming offering.

Netflix saw its stock tumbling by 20 per cent after it reported a loss of 2 lakh paid subscribers in the first quarter of 2022, its first subscriber loss in over a decade.

Moreover, it forecast a global paid subscriber loss of 20 lakh for the April-June quarter (Q2).

Netflix is fast losing long-term subscribers. According to a survey report by The Information, new data show that people who have been subscribers to Netflix for more than three years accounted for 13 per cent of cancellations in the first quarter this year.