Roku has pulled YouTube TV from its channel store. The distribution agreement between Roku and Google for YouTube TV has expired as of today — and the two sides haven’t been able to reach a new deal. However, Roku says it is “taking the extra step to continue to offer existing subscribers access to YouTube TV on the Roku platform unless Google takes actions that require the full removal of the channel.” New subscriptions from the YouTube TV app have also been switched off “until an agreement is reached.”
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 VP9 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.”
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.”
