Roku and Google kiss and make up, bringing YouTube TV back to smart TVs and dongles - Android Police

Carriage disputes from the bad old days of cable TV are still alive and well in the age of streaming, but at least the one that's been brewing between Roku and Google's YouTube TV has been quashed. The two sides have agreed on a multi-year contract.

Roku took to Twitter this morning to announce the deal.

"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 said in a statement to CNBC. "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."

No terms have been specified.

The breakdown in negotiations took hold starting in April when Roku notified its customers that it would remove YouTube TV from its platform, citing "Google's unfair and anticompetitive requirements to manipulate [viewers'] search results." It was claimed that Google had been pursuing front billing for YouTube TV at over-the-top services.

YouTube TV was still available on Roku through the YouTube app as a workaround. Roku threatened to ship new devices without the YouTube app starting tomorrow. But with an agreement inked at the 11th hour, Roku tells Digital Trends that the YouTube TV app itself may reappear on its OS across various smart TVs and streaming devices starting mid-morning today.

Roku isn't done at the bargaining table just yet — Amazon Prime Video may be another service to go.

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Jules Wang (1237 Articles Published)

Jules joined the Android Police team in 2019. Before that, he was at Pocketnow. He loves public transportation, podcasts, and people in general. He also likes to take views from the bigger picture in technology from how people are attracted to it to how it's utilized across every other industry.