© Provided by CNETRoku and Google's YouTube have been at odds over the terms of a new distribution deal for more than a week. Sarah Tew/CNET
Google's YouTube is tweaking its app for Roku to include access to its live-TV streaming subcription service, YouTube TV, inside the main YouTube app itself, the search giant said in a blog post Friday, as it also explores sending free streaming devices to YouTube TV subscribers. It's the latest escalation in a standoff between Google and Roku over a new distribution deal for YouTube TV, which continues to operate on Roku's lineup of streaming gadgets but is no longer available in its channel store to download anew.
© Sarah Tew/CNET Roku and Google's YouTube have been at odds over the terms of a new distribution deal for more than a week.
Roku didn't immediately respond to messages seeking comment.
Carriage disputes between programmers and distributors are nothing new -- they're a routine annoyance for customers of traditional cable and satellite TV. But up until last year, these kinds of service "blackouts" were one of ways streaming set itself apart from the aggravations of television's past.
But in the last year, they've cropped up with the launches of many big, new streaming services, such as both HBO Max and NBCUniversal's Peacock failing to launch with support on Roku. The standoff between Roku and Google's YouTube TV demonstrates that even with long-established apps, services and distributors may both agitate to get the upper hand as the dynamic of power evolves for the future of TV.
The tensions come as streaming has grown more popular than ever during the coronavirus pandemic, amplifying a long trend of people watching more video over the internet. Streaming distributors like Roku and streaming programmers like YouTube both want to control the data, money, programming and discovery tools at the heart of your streaming activity. Both sides want to entrench themselves in positions of power for the next era of television.
This is a developing story; check back for updates.
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