In the past week, there have been a few noteworthy pieces of news regarding Android TV and Google TV devices. Google’s Chromecast with Google TV and Walmart’s Onn 4K Streaming Box have both received minor software updates. Nvidia’s Shield TV has dropped a hint that it may be getting updated to Android 11 in the future. TCL and Best Buy have pulled TCL 6-Series TVs running Google TV off of shelves due to performance issues. Read on for more details about all of these things and more. Read more ›
A day before Google was scheduled to remove YouTube from the Roku appstore, Google and Roku have reached an agreement that will keep YouTube accessible on Roku devices and will return the YouTube TV app to Roku’s channel store. The deal is said to be a multi-year agreement between the two companies, but nothing else has been said about the specifics of the arrangement. Read more ›
History repeats itself, only this time it’s not Google leveraging the popularity of YouTube against Amazon and Fire TVs, but against Roku and new Roku devices. Google has stated that it will be removing the YouTube app from the Roku channel store on December 9th, which will prevent new and factory reset Roku devices from accessing the video service, according to Variety. This is a result of negotiations between Google and Roku regarding app distribution terms going nowhere for the past 6 months, which has already resulted in the removal of YouTube TV from the Roku channel store. Read more ›
Earlier this week, NBCUniversal and Google revealed that over a dozen NBCUniversal-owned channels would be disappearing from YouTube TV if an agreement between the two companies was not reached by the end of September. The two companies have now said that they are temporarily extending their existing agreement in order to keep the channels available for the time being. This means that YouTube TV will not be getting $10 cheaper, as Google said it would if the channels were dropped. So, for a “short” time at least, YouTube TV subscribers will continue to have access to NBC, Bravo, CNBC, E!, Golf Channel, MSNBC, Oxygen, Syfy, Telemundo, the Olympic Channel, Universal Kids, Universo, USA Network, and regional NBC Sports networks. However, they may disappear any day if talks between the two companies go south. UPDATE: Google and NBCUniversal have reached a long-term agreement that will keep all NBCUniversal-owned channels available on YouTube TV, according to Deadline.
YouTube TV may lose over a dozen NBCUniversal owned channels at the end of the month due to a contract dispute between NBCUniversal and Google, according to a website NBCU put up and a blog post from Google. The existing deal between the two companies is set to expire Thursday, Sept. 30 and if a new agreement is not reached by then, Google will be forced to drop NBC, Bravo, CNBC, E!, Golf Channel, MSNBC, Oxygen, Syfy, Telemundo, the Olympic Channel, Universal Kids, Universo, USA Network, and regional NBC Sports networks. Read more ›
A new device from Google just passed through the FCC yesterday, as spotted by Liliputing, MySmartPrice, and many others. The new device, carrying FCC ID A4RGJQ9T and a matching model number of GJQ9T, is labeled as a “Wireless Streaming Device” which has understandably lead most news outlets to conclude that it is the next generation Google Chromecast. Unfortunately, I don’t think they’re right and here’s why. Read more ›
Google has announced that they are adding access to YouTube TV through the standard YouTube app. This allows them to, essentially, get around Roku’s removal of the YouTube TV app since the YouTube app is still accessible on Roku devices. At the bottom of the YouTube app’s left-side navigation menu will soon be a button “Go to YouTube TV” button. Read more ›
Roku has dropped YouTube TV from its channel store, making it impossible to install the service on any Roku device. This is due to a dispute between Roku and Google regarding the terms of their contract renewal which the two companies have not been able to agree on. Roku has chosen not to remove the YouTube TV app from devices that already have it installed, but they warn customers that there is no way to reinstall the app, should they choose to uninstall it or reset their Roku device. Read more ›
Roku and Google are currently in a dispute which may result in the YouTube TV app being removed from Roku devices. At the core of this dispute are features that Google wants Roku devices to support. Neither company is being overtly specific about the features in question but Roku says they “harm users” and are “anticompetitive,” while Google says the features “ensure a high-quality and consistent experience for our viewers.” The more we learn about these requested features, the more it seems like Amazon’s Fire TV devices already support them, and rightfully so. Read more ›
Another month, another dispute between streaming services and streaming hardware manufacturers. This time it’s between Roku and Google over the presence of YouTube TV and YouTube app on Roku devices. It looks like the agreement between the two companies is up for renewal shortly and negotiations “have broken down,” according to an email Roku sent to its customers in hopes of garnering support that they can leverage against Google. Read more ›
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