Roku and Google have entered into a multi-year agreement that will keep the YouTube and YouTube TV apps available on Roku devices, Roku announced on Twitter this morning. The agreement comes months after the YouTube TV app was removed from the Roku Channel Store and just a day before the regular YouTube app was removed from the store.
Specific terms of the deal have not been announced, including how many years “multi-year”means and whether Roku will start adding decoding support for the AV1 video codec to its hardware. We also don’t know if the $65/month YouTube TV service will return to the Roku store as a standalone dedicated app or if it will continue to be added to the main YouTube app, as it has been since Google added it there. bypass Roku restrictions in May.
Support for the AV1 codec was one of the main obstacles between the two companies. The YouTube and YouTube TV apps use AV1 (which is supported by Google, among other companies) to serve compressed 4K and 8K video streams. But since streaming devices tend to use slower and cheaper processors, they rely on dedicated video decoding hardware to be able to actually decompress and display these video files, and while most of these devices support the commonly used H.265/HEVC codec for high permissions. resolution video streams, fewer supports the free AV1 codec.
Roku said that adding AV1 support to its devices would “increase consumer spending”and requiring YouTube and YouTube TV support would allow Google to determine which chips Roku uses in its products. Google also accused Roku of using its position in the streaming device market to secure better terms (Roku devices account for the majority of all streaming in North America, although its market share is lower in other regions). The YouTube and YouTube TV apps may not support high-resolution video streaming on non-AV1 devices, although having these apps in the Roku store to any extent is probably better for both companies than pulling them out entirely.