Roku said its distribution agreement for YouTube TV has officially expired and the live streaming TV app has been removed from the Roku app store.
It means the YouTube TV app will not be available to new subscribers, but existing subscribers will maintain access to YouTube TV on Roku, which means no current users will be impacted.
The impasse with Google only affects the YouTube TV. The separate YouTube app is still available in the Roku channel store.
Roku issued a statement expressing its disappointment with Google.
“Roku has not asked for one dollar of additional financial consideration from Google to renew YouTube TV,” said a Roku spokesperson. “We have only asked Google for four simple commitments. First, not to manipulate consumer search results. Second, not to require access to data not available to anyone else. Third, not to leverage their YouTube monopoly to force Roku to accept hardware requirements that would increase consumer costs. Fourth, not to act in a discriminatory and anticompetitive manner against Roku.”
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The company said that new YouTube TV subscriptions will not be available on the Roku platform going forward until an agreement is reached.
“It is well past time for Google to embrace the principles that have made streaming so popular for millions of users by giving consumers control of their streaming experience, by embracing fair competition and by ceasing anticompetitive practices. We believe consumers stand to benefit from Google and Roku reaching a fair agreement that preserves these principles and we remain committed to trying to achieve that goal,” Roku said.
The YouTube TV blackout on Roku potentially affects millions of consumers. YouTube said its virtual MVPD has more than 3 million subscribers. Roku said it added 14.3 million incremental active accounts in 2020 and ended the year with 51.2 million.