The ongoing dispute between Roku and NBCUniversal, an argument over the distribution of the fledgling Peacock streaming service on the Roku platform, is now getting nasty.
Late Thursday, Comcast reportedly notified Roku that they plan to force them to remove access to NBCU’s TV Everywhere channels on the platform – including the flagship NBC app. Comcast may require Roku to delete the channels, including a total of 46 NBCU apps, as early as this weekend.​
In a statement, a Roku spokesman said:
“Comcast is removing  the channels in order to try to force Roku to distribute its new Peacock service on unreasonable terms. While the NBC TV Everywhere apps represent an insignificant amount of streaming hours and revenue on our platform, we believe they are important to those consumers  who use them, especially when so many Americans are at home.”
Meanwhile an NBCU rep says:
“We are disappointed Roku is removing its users’ free access to NBCUniversal programming – 11 network apps, 12 NBC-owned station apps, 23 Telemundo-owned station apps – and continues to block access to the only free premium streaming service available in the market, Peacock. Roku’s unreasonable demands ultimately hurt both their consumers and their consumer equipment partners to whom they’ve promised access to all apps in the marketplace.”
Peacock launched nationwide July 15th but has been unavailable on Roku as well as the Amazon Fire TV.
Source: Engadget
