Roku and Google’s YouTube have been at odds over the terms of a new distribution deal for more than a week.
Sarah Tew/CNET
Google‘s YouTube is tweaking its app for Roku to include access to its live-TV streaming subscription service, YouTube TV, the search giant said in a blog post Friday, as it also explores sending free streaming devices to YouTube TV subscribers.
Roku didn’t have an immediate comment.
It’s the latest escalation in a standoff between Google and Roku over a new distribution deal for YouTube TV, which is a subscription service that streams live television channels, typically used as an alternative to cable or satellite for cord-cutters. After their previous deal expired last week, YouTube TV’s dedicated app was removed from Roku’s channel store, preventing new downloads. However, the YouTube TV app continues to work on Roku TVs and gadgets for anyone who already installed it.
With Google’s move Friday, the main YouTube app is set to serve dual purposes — its traditional job of offering up YouTube’s massive library of online video free for anyone to watch, as well as new access to YouTube TV’s live channels and other features for those paying subscribers.
Carriage disputes between programmers and distributors are nothing new — they’re a routine annoyance for customers of traditional cable and satellite TV. But up until last year, these kinds of service “blackouts” were one of ways streaming set itself apart from the aggravations of television’s past.
But in the last year, they’ve cropped up with the launches of many big, new streaming services, such as both HBO Max and NBCUniversal’s Peacock failing to launch with support on Roku. The latest standoff between Roku and Google’s YouTube TV demonstrates that even with long-established apps, services and distributors may both agitate to get the upper hand as the dynamic of power evolves for the future of TV.
The tensions come as streaming has grown more popular than ever during the coronavirus pandemic, amplifying a long trend of people watching more video over the internet. Streaming distributors like Roku and streaming programmers like YouTube both want to control the data, money, programming and discovery tools at the heart of your streaming activity. Both sides want to entrench themselves in positions of power for the next era of television.
Friday, YouTube said YouTube TV’s service would be available inside its main YouTube app for Roku through an update that would roll out “over the next few days.” But this feature will also expand to “as many devices” as possible over time, it said.
YouTube is still working with Roku to reach an agreement, the company added, but it also noted that Google is in separate talks with other partners about possibly securing free streaming devices “in case YouTube TV members face any access issues on Roku.” Essentially, that means Google is considering sending free streaming gadgets made by one of Roku’s rivals to YouTube TV customers if access to the service on Roku is disrupted further.
(Google itself is a Roku hardware rival; its Chromecast streaming devices compete with Roku, making Google both a partner and competitor in different facets of its business.)
Roku first warned customers in late April about possible disruptions to watching YouTube TV on its devices, claiming YouTube’s demands as they negotiated a new distribution deal were an abuse of Google’s marketplace power. Google rejected the accusations, saying it was negotiating with Roku in good faith. When their previous deal expired last week with no new agreement in place, Roku removed YouTube TV’s app from its channel store but stopped short of cutting off all access to YouTube TV on its devices.
Google said in October that YouTube TV has more than 3 million subscribers. That number is dwarfed by the more than 2 billion people who watch YouTube’s main video service. But most YouTube viewing occurs on mobile devices, and YouTube TV — though much smaller — is the kind of service that tends to be watched most on televisions, often via a streaming device like Roku.