Friday, April 30, 2021 12:26:34 PM
In an email to customers, Roku warned “it is also important that you do not delete the YouTube TV app as it will not be available for download to Roku devices.” The regular YouTube app is unaffected by this situation and remains freely available on Roku devices.
Roku has accused Google of seeking unfair terms that would adversely affect streaming competitors and benefit the YouTube suite of apps. Google has also asked for deeper access to Roku customer data than other services, Roku claims, and is pushing Roku to adopt new hardware requirements; presumably the company is aiming to get AV1 supported in the future.
“We have only asked Google for four simple commitments,” Roku said in a new statement today. “First, not to manipulate consumer search results. Second, not to require access to data not available to anyone else. Third, not to leverage their YouTube monopoly to force Roku to accept hardware requirements that would increase consumer costs. Fourth, not to act in a discriminatory and anticompetitive manner against Roku.”
Earlier this week, Google accused Roku of abusing its strong position in the streaming hardware market. “Roku often engages in these types of tactics in their negotiations. We’re disappointed that they chose to make baseless claims while we continue our ongoing negotiations,” a Google spokesperson told The Verge on Monday. “All of our work with them has been focused on ensuring a high quality and consistent experience for our viewers. We have made no requests to access user data or interfere with search results. We hope we can resolve this for the sake of our mutual users.”
Google today followed that up with a blog post, stating that “our initial conversations started with Roku simply to renew the current terms of their ongoing deal with YouTube TV, which has been in place for several years. Our offer to Roku was simple and still stands: renew the YouTube TV deal under the existing reasonable terms.” Google claims that Roku used the opportunity to also “renegotiate a separate deal encompassing the YouTube main app, which does not expire until December.”
One bullet point really does sound like Google wants Roku to get on board with the AV1 codec:
Our agreements with partners have technical requirements to ensure a high quality experience on YouTube. Roku requested exceptions that would break the YouTube experience and limit our ability to update YouTube in order to fix issues or add new features. For example, by not supporting open-source video codecs, you wouldn’t be able to watch YouTube in 4K HDR or 8K even if you bought a Roku device that supports that resolution.
The takeaway is that we’re witnessing a more online, digital version of the carriage disputes that are so common between cable providers and content providers. Both companies are choosing their words extremely carefully.
Roku has insisted it’s not demanding more money from Google, and its email to customers — sent out at 8AM ET this morning — says “we cannot accept Google’s unfair and anticompetitive requirements that would allow for the manipulation of your search results, impact the usage of your data, and ultimately cost you more.” Google’s stance is that it “can’t give Roku special treatment at the expense of users,” and it’s reiterating that there have been no requests to change search or for special access to user data. “This claim is baseless and false,” Google said in its post.
Update April 30th 12PM ET: The article has been updated with new information from a blog post published by Google / YouTube.
https://www.theverge.com/2021/4/30/22411711/roku-removes-youtube-tv-channel-store
Recent ROKU News
- Roku Chief Financial Officer to Present at Needham’s Technology & Media Conference • Business Wire • 05/14/2024 12:00:00 PM
- Roku Lands Exclusive Rights to Major League Baseball Sunday Leadoff • Business Wire • 05/13/2024 07:35:00 PM
- Form SC 13G/A - Statement of acquisition of beneficial ownership by individuals: [Amend] • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 05/10/2024 04:22:53 PM
- Form 4 - Statement of changes in beneficial ownership of securities • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 05/09/2024 11:11:24 PM
- Roku Is the Lead-In to Television • Business Wire • 04/30/2024 09:30:00 PM
- Roku and iSpot Announce Streaming Audience Measurement Partnership • Business Wire • 04/30/2024 01:00:00 PM
- Roku and The Trade Desk Announce New Data-Driven TV Streaming Partnership • Business Wire • 04/30/2024 12:00:00 PM
- Exxon Mobil Net Profit Drops 28% to $8.22 Billion, Atlassian Surprises with Revenue Boost and Co-CEO Exit, and More in Earnings • IH Market News • 04/26/2024 11:47:51 AM
- Roku Releases First Quarter 2024 Financial Results • Business Wire • 04/25/2024 08:05:00 PM
- U.S. Futures Drop in Pre-Market Trading as Tech Stocks Plunge After Meta Issues Gloomy Forecast • IH Market News • 04/25/2024 11:53:54 AM
- Samsung Surpasses Apple in Q1 Smartphone Market; Salesforce in Talks to Acquire Informatica, and More News • IH Market News • 04/15/2024 11:06:48 AM
- Roku to Announce First Quarter 2024 Financial Results on April 25, 2024 • Business Wire • 04/11/2024 08:05:00 PM
- Your TV Just Got Better with New Updates from Roku • Business Wire • 04/10/2024 01:05:00 PM
- Roku Pro Series Arrives with Elevated Features and Design in a TV Made for Streaming • Business Wire • 04/10/2024 01:00:00 PM
- With Roku’s All-New NBA FAST Channel and NBA Zone, Basketball Fans Are at the Center of the Action • Business Wire • 04/03/2024 03:00:00 PM
- Cross Screen Media and Roku Expand Partnership to Enable Cross-Channel Measurement for Local Agencies • PR Newswire (US) • 03/19/2024 11:00:00 AM
- Form 4 - Statement of changes in beneficial ownership of securities • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 03/11/2024 09:41:18 PM
- Form 144 - Report of proposed sale of securities • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 03/08/2024 09:41:23 PM
- Form 4 - Statement of changes in beneficial ownership of securities • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 03/06/2024 01:40:04 AM
- Form 4 - Statement of changes in beneficial ownership of securities • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 03/06/2024 01:39:21 AM
- Form 4 - Statement of changes in beneficial ownership of securities • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 03/06/2024 01:39:10 AM
- Form 4 - Statement of changes in beneficial ownership of securities • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 03/06/2024 01:38:44 AM
- Form 4 - Statement of changes in beneficial ownership of securities • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 03/06/2024 01:36:44 AM
- Form 4 - Statement of changes in beneficial ownership of securities • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 03/06/2024 01:35:52 AM
- Form 4 - Statement of changes in beneficial ownership of securities • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 03/06/2024 01:34:59 AM
FEATURED POET Announces Design Win and Collaboration with Foxconn Interconnect Technology for High-speed AI Systems • May 14, 2024 10:09 AM
FEATURED Element79 Gold Corp Reports Exceptionally High-Grade Results from Lucero • May 14, 2024 7:00 AM
VAYK Added New Manager for Expansion into $64 Billion Domestic Short-term Rental Market • VAYK • May 14, 2024 9:00 AM
Avant Technologies Equipping AI-Managed Data Center with High Performance Computing Systems • AVAI • May 10, 2024 8:00 AM
VAYK Discloses Strategic Conversation on Potential Acquisition of $4 Million Home Service Business • VAYK • May 9, 2024 9:00 AM
Bantec's Howco Awarded $4.19 Million Dollar U.S. Department of Defense Contract • BANT • May 8, 2024 10:00 AM