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Roku tells customers it is unable to strike a deal with YouTube

axios.com

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Re: Roku tells customers it is unable to strike a deal with YouTube

#111

Post by gonehome »

HelloMcFly wrote: post #109
gonehome wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah I liked them initially, but have since thrown out all their crap and bought Apple TVs. Once Apple got Amazon prime streaming roku lost their only differentiating feature. The ads really annoyed me to the extent that I don’t care if they fail.

Roku's differentiating feature has always been simplicity and universal search. Does Apple TV offer universal search across content providers? I'm asking, I don't know, but it's the one feature I can't give up.

Yep - you can search across all installed apps.

Re: Roku tells customers it is unable to strike a deal with YouTube

#112

Post by datavirtue »

gonehome wrote: post #50
dtjb wrote: post #18

I get this situation is different since YouTube is looking for concessions on functionality, but I find it hard to defend Roku with their triple-dipping scheme. They charge for the device (I paid over $100 for my 4k HDR box), then they display massive ads covering 50% of the screen, then they want a cut of revenue from content providers as well. Roku burned through a lot of goodwill with their customers during the HB…

Yeah I liked them initially, but have since thrown out all their crap and bought Apple TVs. Once Apple got Amazon prime streaming roku lost their only differentiating feature. The ads really annoyed me to the extent that I don’t care if they fail.

I have been on Roku forever now and I'm always wondering about these people freaking out about the ads there. It is no where close to the ad intrusion of YouTube. They are not animated, have no sound, and basically stay out of the way. It's like the shinning example of how to do ads.

Re: Roku tells customers it is unable to strike a deal with YouTube

#113

Post by jihadjihad »

dpweb wrote: post #101
015a wrote: post #40

This whole situation really feels like Google has their head stuck up their ass. People are just as likely to leave Roku, as they are to leave YouTube TV. Their subscriber numbers can't be strong enough to justify such idiotic behavior. To me, this sounds like a middle manager gone rogue, and no one higher up has stepped in yet and said "Ok, you shot your shot, but Roku called your bluff, you've taken this way too fa…

No, I can easily drop YouTube TV. Roku is built into each of my 3 TVs. I'm glad this was about Youtube TV, if it ws the Youtube app I'd have a problem.

I thought the same thing, but apparently the article mentions that the base YouTube app is also affected by this spat:

"The two companies had a December deadline for renegotiation, but sources say it hasn’t been met, and as a result, new Roku devices will continue to be unable to download YouTube or YouTube TV apps."

Re: Roku tells customers it is unable to strike a deal with YouTube

#114

Post by bgorman »

pkulak wrote: post #95
dtjb wrote: post #18

I get this situation is different since YouTube is looking for concessions on functionality, but I find it hard to defend Roku with their triple-dipping scheme. They charge for the device (I paid over $100 for my 4k HDR box), then they display massive ads covering 50% of the screen, then they want a cut of revenue from content providers as well. Roku burned through a lot of goodwill with their customers during the HB…

I can't say this for everyone, but a tech consumer has to know that just over $100 does not cover the cost of the hardware. It's got to come from somewhere else. I'm usually not much of an Apple fan, but I just switched to the Apple TV and am really liking it. It certainly seems like charging 2x the price for the hardware removes a lot of the incentive to do all the scammy stuff Ruku is involved in; though I guess I…

100 dollars certainly covers the cost of the hardware. These streaming devices use commodity chips and run Linux. This isn’t a crazy R&D project. The only real value-add from Roku is the software.

Re: Roku tells customers it is unable to strike a deal with YouTube

#115

Post by antasvara »

inetknght wrote: post #59
judge2020 wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And yet > To be clear, we have never, as they have alleged, made any requests to access user data or interfere with search results. This claim is baseless and false. So one of them (but most likely both of them) are being dishonest in their PR plays to get the other side to give in to demands. https://blog.youtube/news-and-events/update-our-youtube-tv-m...

That blog doesn't address the statements made by Roku. The Roku blog doesn't load for me because I have javascript disabled. But the axios article states: > asking Roku to create a dedicated search results row for YouTube within the Roku smart TV interface The YouTube blog hasn't denied that at all. In fact it practically confirms it: > Our agreements with partners have technical requirements to ensure a high quality…

Note: this isn't meant to defend Google, because their practices are shady and by no means good.

What I find interesting here is that Roku is using business practices similar to Apple and nobody seems to have a problem with it. If I told you that an app store was limiting the types of apps you could add to your device while also controlling the update process, lots of HN readers would call that out. As far as I'm aware, Roku also has a way of capturing subscription revenue as well.

By alk means call out Google for their garbage business practices. But don't let Roku off the hook either.

Re: Roku tells customers it is unable to strike a deal with YouTube

#116

Post by Pxtl »

judge2020 wrote: post #37
mdasen wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The issue is that companies like Roku are increasingly making their money by having companies like YouTube TV pay them to carry their apps. Likewise, there are lots of things about these systems that can fall under negotiations. For example, what analytics does Roku get access to for actions taken within apps? Does Roku get insight into what YouTube videos you're watching? From Roku's blog post, it seems that Google…

> From Roku's blog post, it seems that Google wants a dedicated area in the global search for YouTube results. For example, If you search for "Last Week Tonight", Google wants a YouTube results row showing clips on their service above results from other content platforms like HBO Max. Basically, Google wants to have the placement that search ads get on their platform on Roku. Previous discussions[0] suggested that it…

As a user, I see Google's point on this. I often get annoyed when I want to search within the system I'm using and get pushed to a global search, when I want to stay in the app. I'm sure to the app developers this is doubly annoying because it means taking their users away to other platforms. Ironically Google themselves are pretty bad about this - on any given google product it's a roll of the dice what the scope of the "search" button will be.

Re: Roku tells customers it is unable to strike a deal with YouTube

#117

Post by bgorman »

sjg007 wrote: post #106

I have apple tv and roku. Both work great, now that roku can get apple tv+ it is even better. My kids find the roku remote easier than the apple one. So much so that I bought a roku express 4k stick instead of another apple tv. Seems good enough.

Roku even supports Airplay. Not sure who the Apple TV is for at this point.

Re: Roku tells customers it is unable to strike a deal with YouTube

#119

Post by 35fbe7d3d5b9 »

wincy wrote: post #108
brk wrote: post #39

The competitive landscape for what is turning out to be the next evolution of in-home video content delivery is just making me realize that the content is not worth the hassle. I'm not going to replace a $100/mo CATV subscription with 10 (or even 5) $10/mo individual subscriptions, where I have to constantly remember which service provides a particular show. I'm not going to have multiple dongles and devices to watch…

I just use a VPN, flexget, PLEX, and a torrent client. Automatically downloads new episodes at the resolution I want for the shows I want. I can watch at my leisure and get no ads. I hate advertisements. I also don’t watch my shows these days, it almost all feels like indoctrination at this point.

Similar approach, but PLEX + Usenet plumbing (Sonarr/Radarr/NZBGet/friends).

I pay for ESPN+ because it is a convenient way to get some live sports content I like, and the quality of the service is really strong. Other networks make it harder, enforce blackouts, have terrible players that spin my fans up – and for that I use IPTV.

Re: Roku tells customers it is unable to strike a deal with YouTube

#120

Post by gonehome »

datavirtue wrote: post #112
gonehome wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah I liked them initially, but have since thrown out all their crap and bought Apple TVs. Once Apple got Amazon prime streaming roku lost their only differentiating feature. The ads really annoyed me to the extent that I don’t care if they fail.

I have been on Roku forever now and I'm always wondering about these people freaking out about the ads there. It is no where close to the ad intrusion of YouTube. They are not animated, have no sound, and basically stay out of the way. It's like the shinning example of how to do ads.

I pay for YouTube Premium - I have a more than average negative response to ads.

For me if I'm paying for something I don't want ads. If you charge me and then also double dip with ads I'll try to find something else that doesn't.

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