Skip to main content

Google and Roku strike a deal to keep YouTube and YouTube TV on the platform

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.”

YouTube on Roku.
Phil Nickinson/Digital Trends

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.

YouTube TV had more than 3 million paid subscribers as of October 2020, which was the last time Google gave any sort of numbers. That probably puts it in the No. 2 position of live streaming providers in the United States; Hulu With Live TV on November 10, 2021, reported that it had 4 million paid subscribers. Roku, which is available worldwide, reported 56.4 million active accounts as of the third quarter of 2021.

Phil Nickinson
Former Section Editor, Audio/Video
Phil spent the 2000s making newspapers with the Pensacola (Fla.) News Journal, the 2010s with Android Central and then the…
You Asked: Apple TV vs. your TV upscaling dilemma and perplexing pixelation
You Asked Ep 79

On today’s You Asked: Can you stop the Apple TV 4K from upscaling -- and should you? Why is HLG the broadcast standard for HDR and how did some folks get the Super Bowl in Dolby Vision or HDR10? Do secret 3D TVs exist? And why do dark scenes tend to look pixelated?
Stop the upscaling – or not?

Michael Sabin writes: I have a new TCL QM851 and use an Apple TV as the primary streaming device. I know you always recommend letting your TV perform all the upscaling, but I can't find a way to do this with Apple TV. If I set the resolution to 4K, it seems like everything gets upconverted to 4K. Do you know of a way to let Apple TV pass through the native resolution of the content?

Read more
A native Android Apple TV app is now in the Google Play store
The Apple TV app on a Samsung Android phone.

It's been five years since the Apple TV app was launched, and we're now getting a version for Android devices -- built from the ground up for native Android integration -- in the Google Play store that will have the same Apple TV+ functionality as the Apple ecosystem version. The new app means users with Android OS 10 or later will finally have the ability to sign up for Apple TV+ on their Android-based phones and tablets to watch shows and movies like Severance, Silo, Killers of the Flower Moon, and CODA. There will be no difference in pricing on Android compared to Apple.

This should enable seamless interactivity across platforms for features such as Continue Watching -- which keeps track of where you are in a show or movie and allows you to pick up from that spot when you return, regardless of the device you watch on. Customer's Watchlist will be kept up to date across devices as well, and since purchases are linked to your Apple account, all the content you own will be accessible on any device with the new updated app. One thing missing at launch, though, will be the ability to cast Apple TV content from your Android device.

Read more
Google TV Streamer tips and tricks
The Custom AI art section of the new Ambient Mode on Google TV Streamer.

Google TV Streamer is one of the best streaming devices available on the market today, delivering easy access TV, movies, gaming, and even connecting to the Google Home ecosystem. It even gives the stalwart Apple TV 4K a run for its money. This streaming box is full of plenty of bells and whistles, and allows you to turn it into a home entertainment hub. However, just because you've snagged a Google TV Streamer, doesn't mean you know everything it's capable of.

While getting acquainted with the basic options that Google TV Streamer delivers is easy, there are plenty of tricks hiding right under the hood. That's why we've collected them for you here in one place, letting you put your streaming box through its paces.

Read more