Roku Called Out Google Over YouTube Dispute

If you’re watching YouTube TV on a Roku device, don’t get too comfortable.

What’s going on? On Monday, Roku sent a letter to users to warn them that YouTube TV could soon disappear from the platform, citing Google’s aggressive asks at the negotiation table.

Roku didn’t mince words, accusing Google of “predatory, anti-competitive and discriminatory” behavior, the company said in a statement to the press. 😬

The spat isn’t over money. It’s over terms that Roku called “unfair” in its letter. For instance:

• It claims Google has asked it to create a separate search results bar for YouTube within Roku’s interface—and block search results from other content providers while the YouTube app is open.
• Roku also says that Google’s asking for hardware updates that’ll drive up the cost of its devices, which compete with Chromecast.

A YouTube TV spokesperson told Axios their negotiations with Roku have been "in good faith." While a Roku spokesperson told Marketing Brew “it’s up to Google” now.

“Weeks ago we sent them our proposal. We hope they don’t force us to take the app down. We’re hoping with some transparency, calmer heads would prevail on the other sides of these asks,” they said.

Bottom line: Roku claims it’s being picked on unfairly. “We’ll do everything you’ve asked us to do, as long as you're asking everybody else to do it,” the Roku spokesperson added. “But if you're not doing it in Chromecast and you're not making Amazon do it, and you're not making Apple do it, we are not going to do it.” — RB