Channels & viewing

[joy3551]

Yesterday I came home and the youtubetv app was deleted off of my roku, I checked every tv in my house and it was gone from all of them.  I have one that was not plugged in and I tried that and it was on there, but once I connected it to my internet...that too disappeared.  First Roku deleted the spectrum app, then fights with HBO max and now youtubetv...I am so done with this.  Going to replace all of my televisions with smart tv's that do not include roku..then I never have to worry about who roku is fighting with now.  In the interim I went out and got a firestick...they dont fight with all of their customers like roku does.  I contacted roku and was basically told too bad

[StreamerUser]

You can access YouTube TV through the regular YT app:  Open the YT app, and click on  "YouTube TV" at the bottom left in the menu.

[joy3551]

I dont want to do that, I use Youtubetv as my main source of tv and it is a annoying to do it that way.  Instead I purchased google chromecast..you know what? they dont fight with their subscribers or remove apps, either does firestick. Roku has been the only one over and over again to fight with HBO Max, Spectrum, now youtube..and the list goes on.  I am tired of having to deal with over and over again and I talked to a lot of people since yesterday who feel the same way.  If you want to continue to do business I suggest you find a better way to make your customers happy then just going in and deleting an app off of their system without even asking.  I have had that app on my rokus for over two years and yesterday it was just deleted for no reason.

[joy3551]

sorry by the way i thought you worked for roku, i didnt mean that personally!

[StreamerUser]

Not sure why an additional remote key press makes that huge of a difference, but ok.

Just as an FYI, both Google (Chromecast) and Amazon (FireTV) have engaged in carriage disputes (even with each other in fact) in the past (and have/do remove/pull apps as a result).

You probably only paid attention to the issue of streamer-based carriage disputes once it affected you, which is normal, but these disputes have been going on for years now.

None of the players in this industry, content side or platform side, have clean hands - this is the nature of business.

Regardless, this in fact is one of the primary reasons I recommend a multi-platform streaming strategy:  app carriage/compatibility/functionality/availability differences exist and can change at any time, so its best to insulate yourself from their impact by using at least 3 different streaming platforms, once of which is Android/Android-TV based (so you can sideload apps if necessary).

[joy3551]

I do know that they had issues too but they've never pulled apps for months on end like Roku does their issues usually get resolved much quicker. I do agree with you and that is why I'm making the switch because I don't want to rely on one carrier again. I also regret buying a Roku TV for now on I will just buy a smart TV which has the apps on it and is in a particular carrier

[StreamerUser]

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@joy3551 wrote:

I do know that they had issues too but they've never pulled apps for months on end like Roku does their issues usually get resolved much quicker. I do agree with you and that is why I'm making the switch because I don't want to rely on one carrier again. I also regret buying a Roku TV for now on I will just buy a smart TV which has the apps on it and is in a particular carrier

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Thats incorrect and uninformed:  Ironically the longest running streamer carriage dispute was Amazon and Google over YouTube (Google didnt like the fact that Amazon customized the YT app for FireTV) and CC hardware sales on amazon.com which resulted in Google pulling/blocking the Prime app from the Play Store, etc - it lasted a year and a half from late 2017 to mid-2019 before they came to terms and the YT app returned to the FireTV platform, and the Prime app to the Play Store/CC devices.

So, to repeat:  the Google & Amazon YT/Prime dispute lasted for over a year and a half and resulted in no YT app on FireTV and no Prime app in the Play store.

https://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2019/04/19/amazon-and-google-settle-their-dispute-youtube-returns-to...

Again, you (like many other consumers) only really pay attention to these carriage disputes when it directly affects you - call it "consumer carriage tunnel vision".

I recommend getting a non-Roku TV for the express purpose of having a different/additional streaming platform (e.g. LG and WebOS), and then buying Roku/FireTV/AndroidTV/etc streamers to fulfill the strategy.

[Strega]

For the roughly 4 decades that I've had cable, satellite, and/or streaming TV, I've been reading posts on forums for whatever service I'm using at that time, that only that service has carriage disputes, or has way more than anyone else.  So, either I keep picking dispute-happy providers or lots of companies have them. 

Of course, I specifically would expect fewer disputes between Google Chromecast and Google YouTube TV, as well as fewer disputes between Amazon FireTV and Amazon Prime video, since such things could presumably be ironed out more internally. That said, the way a single company resolves them to their own satisfaction, might not me that choice that you would have made.  (ie: having a buyer with clout in between you and a content provider might lead to fewer price increases.)

The great thing these days is that it's just so easy to have as many streaming devices as you want.  I think all the streaming devices I know of would take up less space and cost less than my old laserdisc player.

[rckstnl8]

I have 3 Roku devices - a TCL TV a Roku Ultra and my oldest Roku Stick on a basement TV. The Roku Stick has been misbehaving with multiple reboots, loss of remote pairing, etc. So I decided to upgrade to a 4K Roku Stick. While setting it up this morning I discovered that the YouTube TV app won't load even though I'm a continuing YouTube TV subscriber. I'm not pleased with the pissing contest that Roku and YouTube are engaged in and am hoping that someday these man-child executives will come to some sort of agreement. This is a TV used by visitors and I really don't want to impose unfriendly work arounds. I do have an Apple TV down there, so maybe that's the guest mode now. Returning the new stick. 

[StreamerUser]

Not sure how opening the YT app instead of the YT TV app and an additional click or two is "an unfriendly workaround" (seems quite "friendly" in fact), but apparently the split seconds and digital labor involved are "a bridge too far"....