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

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

#261

Post by twobitshifter »

Johnny555 wrote: post #246
CydeWeys wrote: post #224

Time to get a new TV then. It's been time for awhile but this is gonna be the inciting incident. And definitely not getting a Roku TV as my new one.

Unless you're taking some ideological stance against Roku, no need to replace your existing hardware, it will continue to work with Youtube: We are, however, giving Roku the ability to continue distributing both YouTube and YouTube TV apps to all existing users to make sure they are not impacted.

I think this is saying your existing YouTube app will work but as a new user you won’t be able to find the app

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

#263

Post by sgerenser »

captn3m0 wrote: post #64
gameswithgo wrote: post #2

It is so dumb and twisted that there even needs to be a deal. Any web browser can hit youtube, you can probably get to youtube via a web browser anyway on a roku, if not they could in principle do that. Also dumb and twisted that as a paying youtube subscriber, I could buy a computer (a roku) and not be allowed to access youtube on it. Do better, tech.

You can still use YouTube TV (The old leanback interface) if you set your user agent correctly to spoof Tizen Smart TVs. Works almost well enough with keyboard/controller navigation but some keys are mapped incorrectly. /usr/bin/chromium --start-fullscreen --user-agent="smarttv;applewebkit;tizen" "https://youtube.com/tv"

How do I execute /usr/bin/chromium on my Roku?

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

#264

Post by dash488 »

Roku and AndroidTV aside, has someone come up with an opensource alternative to either of these spammy services?

Im in neither camp as I have had both functionalities preinstalled on a TV. Recently with my newer Android TV it is riddled with ADs and is noisy on my network with telemetry data, even when not in use. When I just want to turn it on and play PS4, it takes time to load the latest on Amazon Prime, Netflix and whatever other streaming service they are shilling, none which I pay for. When most of my media is on Plex or a gaming system. I just want my TV to be dumb again.

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

#265

Post by inerte »

notyourwork wrote: post #254
pkulak wrote: post #253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Though, you still get all the in-video promos, even when paying. That ticks me off a bit, but it's not too bad.

That's on the content creator, not YouTube right?

With the current system, yes. YouTube could do something where the content creator specifies the sponsored part (if it's not straight up merchandising and product placement) and paying subscribers could have that skipped.

Anyway, I chimed in to say YouTube Premium to me is worth a lot. I watch more YouTube because of it, it's better, better for the kids, less annoying, the whole thing is fantastically better. Every time I click an YouTube video on my employer account and get an ad it's such a shock.

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

#266

Post by Jensson »

notyourwork wrote: post #258
deeblering4 wrote: post #247

Then I’ll keep the roku and cancel youtube premium. Google is just the worst.

My perception of Google has shifted from the kid in the candy store feeling I used to get about anything Google touched. Now I'm skeptical of every move they make and don't feel like they are operating in my best interest. Maybe I was always naive but the Google I knew 10+ years ago isn't the one I know today and it makes me sad.

The Google founders started the process of stepping down around 10 years ago. Pretty sure this was the turning point and the company just got worse since then:

> The explanation that Page posted Tuesday on his Google Plus profile cleared up a mystery hanging over him since he lost his voice a year ago, causing him to miss Google Inc.'s annual shareholders meeting in June and a conference call to discuss the company's quarterly earnings in July.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/google-ceo-larry-page-discl...

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

#267

Post by NikolaNovak »

johnvaluk wrote: post #244

I've used Roku in various incarnations (box, TV) since it was released and was excited when the official YouTube app was finally available. But lately, it's been painful to watch YouTube due to the constant and disruptive advertising. Part of me is looking forward to the app being pulled from Roku, since it's so much like the cable TV experience I thought I was escaping. I don't feel this way about the other premium…

>>"Is it worth paying for YouTube?"

I think that largely depends on your personal ratio of income vs perceived value of time vs annoyance by ads.

For me,today,I'm lucky enough that it's 100% worth it. Somebody sent me a link last week and it opened in non google Firefox container so I wasn't signed in... After I went through "wtf" moment at inopportune interruptions, I realized how totally worth it it is.

Yes the content promos are a bit annoying too but much more easily skippable,not to mention better timed & integrated,and less disruptive.

Plus again,I'm lucky enough to be able to afford supporting content creators and pay for what I consume. As a student in war torn Bosnia my perspective was radically different than established worker in Canada.

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

#268

Post by ypcx »

johnvaluk wrote: post #244

I've used Roku in various incarnations (box, TV) since it was released and was excited when the official YouTube app was finally available. But lately, it's been painful to watch YouTube due to the constant and disruptive advertising. Part of me is looking forward to the app being pulled from Roku, since it's so much like the cable TV experience I thought I was escaping. I don't feel this way about the other premium…

For some reason the Apple TV YouTube app's recommendations are pretty abysmal compared to the desktop website or the iPad app, and Watch Later isn't saving the day either. Could be that the app displays a grid of just 6 videos per screen, which is utterly ridiculous for any TV screen, god forbid a projector. Premium is still worth it though.

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

#270

Post by voidwtf »

LocalH wrote: post #232

So Google is using YouTube as leverage to convince Roku to do what they want, not just YouTube TV. This is literally a cable/network pissing match, except with streaming. Fuck 'em both, honestly. Neither one is an innocent party.

Roku has been demanding increasing amounts of revenue sharing from their "channels". I moved away from Roku after their spat with Spectrum made some of my Roku TVs useless for watching my Spectrum subscription (kids doing kid things deleted the app and it couldn't be reinstalled). I've never had any app be subject to a contract dispute on my Apple TV, whereas Roku has had 3 that affected me at varying points.

Take a look at Roku's quarterly reports and you can see that they're not a streaming device company, they're a streaming platform company. Roku televisions are not the product, you are the product. From Q3 2016 to Q2 2021 their platform revenue has increased from 27.3% to 82.5%, or 24.3M to 532M. This is not even taking into account the profit margins for the platform are much higher than they are for the device, in some cases they're using the device as a loss-leader.

Roku has taken the Apple App Store revenue sharing route and decided that even when they don't provide the content they still want a considerable piece of the monthly revenue. They've taken it a step farther by placing ads on the home screen, search screen, and idle screen as well.

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