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Roku Officials Say Negotiations With YouTube TV ‘Not a Carriage Situation’; Still Not Resolved

Mike Nelson
Mike is the General Manager of The Streamable and has been running recommendation websites since 2009. He cut the cord in 2014 and is a Utes football fan despite living in SEC territory. He currently streams on a TCL 4K 65" and his favorites to watch include "Inception," "Big Fish," "Back to the Future," and "New Girl."
Read full bio ›
Mike Nelson

New users still won’t be able to access YouTube TV through Roku’s platform, nor will they be able to sign up to YouTube TV using their Roku devices, according to Roku company officials during the 2Q 2021 Earnings Call late Wednesday afternoon.

The two companies have been at odds since late April over the distribution of the YouTube TV app on the Roku platform.

Just as during the 1Q call, Roku company officials said they do not have anything new to add on the negotiations between Roku and YouTube TV.

“This is not a carriage situation,” according to company officials with Roku. “We’re not seeking more money or economics in this relationship. We want Google to agree not to try and dictate certain behaviors on Roku or access data … We think these are pretty fair and reasonable.”

Roku’s beef isn’t with Google’s price, but instead its insistence on Roku’s data. Roku believes that Google manipulated its platform’s search results and sought to control user data using Roku’s equipment. Privacy has become sort of a big deal for Roku, and obviously, that would conflict with Google, which wants to acquire user data.

Roku and YouTube TV’s “carriage” agreement recently ended, meaning new users won’t be able to access YouTube TV through Roku’s platform, nor will they be able to sign up to YouTube TV using their Roku devices. Existing customers can still access the service for now, but if they delete the app, they won’t be able to re-install it. 

This isn’t the only dispute that Roku has had with a Live TV Streaming Service, however. In December, Spectrum’s TV App was dropped from the Roku platform and has yet to return.

Roku has also had disputes with NBCU, which was avoided at the last minute, which would have seen all of their TV Everywhere Apps removed. They also nearly saw the Fox app removed from the platform ahead of the Super Bowl in 2020.

Mike Nelson
Mike is the General Manager of The Streamable and has been running recommendation websites since 2009. He cut the cord in 2014 and is a Utes football fan despite living in SEC territory. He currently streams on a TCL 4K 65" and his favorites to watch include "Inception," "Big Fish," "Back to the Future," and "New Girl."
Read full bio ›
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