Roku May Remove YouTube TV Over “Anti-Competitive” Demands By Google

Roku has warned owners of its devices who subscribe to YouTube TV that they might lose access to the app, citing “unfair terms” from Google.

According to a copy of the email sent to users, the media streaming player told users recent negotiations with Google to carry YouTube TV, which the internet giant owns, broke down “because Roku cannot accept Google’s unfair terms as we believe they could harm our users.”

As a condition for carrying YouTube TV, Google also has asked that Roku to create a dedicated search results row for YouTube within the Roku smart TV interface and give YouTube search results more prominent placement — perks that Roku claimed it hasn’t seen handed out on rival platforms.

Roku also griped that Google is demanding that if, for example, a customer is using its YouTube app and searches for “The Croods,” that only YouTube TV results pop up. 

“We have been working with Roku in good faith to reach an agreement that benefits our viewers and their customers. Unfortunately, Roku often engages in these types of tactics in their negotiations,” A YouTub TV rep said in a statement. “We’re disappointed that they chose to make baseless claims while we continue our ongoing negotiations. All of our work with them has been focused on ensuring a high quality and consistent experience for our viewers. We have made no requests to access user data or interfere with search results. We hope we can resolve this for the sake of our mutual users.”