Following Roku's removal of the YouTube TV app from its app store, YouTube has added a way for existing YouTube TV users to access it via the main YouTube app for Roku. The two companies are at odds about the renewal of the contract for YouTube TV's presence on Roku devices. The workaround has not gone down well with Roku, but it at least gives users of the two services a way to keep watching while the disagreement is resolved.
The whole saga roared into life on April 26 when Roku solemnly emailed its customers saying of YouTube's parent company: "Recent negotiations with Google to carry YouTube TV have broken down because Roku cannot accept Google’s unfair terms as we believe they could harm our users." Those terms were said to include YouTube content being artificially bumped up in search results and for the app to be able to override users' default Roku device settings. In response, a pearl-clutching April 30 response on the YouTube Blog contended that YouTube simply wanted to "renew the YouTube TV deal under the existing reasonable terms" and that it was, in fact, Roku that was playing hardball. While the two have continued negotiating and flinging recriminations back and forth, it is, of course, the users that have been suffering.
That's at least been partially rectified with an update to the main YouTube app for Roku that the company says is now rolling out to Roku users over the course of a few days. The update has added a 'Go to YouTube TV' link to the menu that, when clicked, loads YouTube TV within the YouTube app. Only existing YouTube users can access the feature, with prospective users not able to sign up via the link. That may have been enough to spare the YouTube app from also being axed by YouTube, although it didn't spare the company a tongue-lashing from Roku.
Roku & YouTube TV Saga: What Happens Next?
While announcing the update, YouTube assured its paying YouTube TV users that it was still working with Roku to resolve the matter and to ensure that similar issues would not arise again in the long term. It also noted that it is "in discussions with other partners to secure free streaming devices in case YouTube TV members face any access issues on Roku." That, no doubt, is part user reassurance and part bargaining chip.
Roku's fire and brimstone response (per The Verge) is best read verbatim:
"Google’s actions are the clear conduct of an unchecked monopolist bent on crushing fair competition and harming consumer choice. The bundling announcement by YouTube highlights the kind of predatory business practices used by Google that Congress, Attorney Generals and regulatory bodies around the world are investigating. Roku has not asked for one additional dollar in financial value from YouTubeTV. We have simply asked Google to stop their anticompetitive behavior of manipulating user search results to their unique financial benefit and to stop demanding access to sensitive data that no other partner on our platform receives today. In response, Google has continued its practice of blatantly leveraging its YouTube monopoly to force an independent company into an agreement that is both bad for consumers and bad for fair competition."
Crikey! All this drama wouldn't be out of place in a streaming platform box set. Given that it's all in the name of a contract renewal, the hope is that the two parties will take things down a notch or two and work through the issues. It's in both of their interests to do so of course, not to mention the interests of their users. For those reasons, it seems likely that the argument will be resolved eventually, although Roku's doubling down on its claims isn't a great sign. If the YouTube TV app doesn't come back to Roku devices, it will surely do more harm to Roku than it will YouTube.