Google and Roku today announced that the two companies have reached a deal that will keep YouTube and YouTube TV on the No. 1 streaming platform in the United States and return the YouTube TV channel to the Roku Channel Store. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, but it’s good for multiple years.
Roku’s Dallas Lawrence, head of comms for platform business, told Digital Trends via email: “Roku and Google have agreed to a multiyear extension for both YouTube and YouTube TV. This agreement represents a positive development for our shared customers, making both YouTube and YouTube TV available for all streamers on the Roku platform.”
The agreement ends a months-long public battle that saw the removal of the YouTube TV app from the Roku channel store — though as a workaround the YouTube TV service was still reachable from within the YouTube app, and the removal only affected new downloads. In the later stages of the impasse, it was possible that the YouTube app itself would be removed from Roku.
Recommended Videos
“We’re happy to share that we’ve reached a deal with Roku to continue distributing the YouTube and YouTube TV apps on Roku devices,” YouTube spokesperson Mariana De Felice told Digital Trends via email, shortly after publication. “This means that Roku customers will continue to have access to YouTube and that the YouTube TV app will once again be available in the Roku store for both new and existing members. We are pleased to have a partnership that benefits our mutual users.”
Roku says that the YouTube TV channel will return to the Roku Channel store by mid-morning on December 8.
It was never completely clear what the disagreement was about. Things flared up in April 2021 when Roku first announced publicly that negotiations weren’t going well and that “Roku cannot accept Google’s unfair terms as we believe they could harm our users.” At the time, YouTube TV seemed to be the sole issue, but Google alleged that Roku was using the negotiations as an opportunity to lump YouTube itself into the discussion, despite those apparently being separate agreements. Roku alleged that Google wanted priority when you search for content on Roku. Google, for its part, said that Roku not supporting open-source video codecs was at issue, and that “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.”
At the end of the day, though, it almost certainly all came down to money, of course. And that doesn’t change the fact that neither Roku nor Google’s customers had anything to do with any of this, and there are plenty of comparable options for replacing Roku and streaming all the YouTube and YouTube TV you want. That includes Chromecast with Google TV, which includes 4K resolution, Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, and sells for just $50.
You Asked: The Moire effect strikes, open-box TV tips, and where’d the curves go?
This week on You Asked: What is Moiré effect, and can you do anything about it? When is it safe to buy an open-box TV? Are there any curved TVs you can buy? Can you use the ARC port on a TV to get sound to a non-ARC receiver? And can you really hear a difference when streaming Dolby Atmos versus Dolby Atmos on disc?
Should You Buy an Open Box TV? Where’s the Curved TVs? | You Asked Ep. 35
Raiders of the last eARC
YouTube just massively angered Apple fans by adding a feature
The YouTube app on Apple TV will show a preview of a nature video after the app sits idle for four-and-a-half minutes. Phil Nickinson / Digital Trends
Let’s say you happen to be an app developer that develops an app for the world’s biggest online video platform — YouTube. And you’re tasked with developing the app for what we consider to be the best streaming hardware you can buy — Apple TV.
A $20 Chromecast with Google TV is perfect for this one reason
Normally, I would never recommend that someone buy a streaming device that tops out at 1080p resolution. Even if you somehow don't have a 4K TV already — I'm not judging, there are plenty of good reasons — you might well have one in the future. And at that point, it's better to not have to buy new hardware until absolutely necessary. Just go ahead and spend the extra $30 now for a 4K version.
But it's hard to say no to a $20 Chromecast with Google TV HD.