The contract dispute between Roku (NASDAQ: ROKU) and Google (parent company Alphabet, (NASDAQ: GOOGL)) has reached a risky stalemate. The existing contract to host YouTube content on Roku will expire on December 9.
If that deadline passes without an agreement by the two firms, all YouTube content will be removed from the Roku platform, according to the company's blog post.
"Google notified us that, unless we reach agreement on renewal terms prior to the expiration of our current agreement, we will not be able to offer YouTube on the Roku platform for new users." The company said. "We will continue to try to keep YouTube (and YouTube TV) available for Roku customers and will provide updates as appropriate."
The deadline would appear to be the ultimate act in the ongoing feud between the two firms, which began amid carriage negotiations earlier this year. According to Roku, Google had demanded that YouTube results receive priority placement within search results while also demanding access to search data. Despite Google's insistence that Roku's allegations were baseless, emails have since surfaced that prove otherwise.
Carriage negotiations have been rough for Google, which has seen more firms standing up to the tech giant and lobbing accusations of anticompetitive behavior. In May, Sinclair (NASDAQ: SBGI) pulled its sports-related content from YouTube TV after a similar dispute. Last month, a near-identical dispute escalated between YouTube and NBC Universal (parent company Comcast, (NASDAQ: CMCSA)) when the latter attempted to leverage fans of NBC properties to pressure Google during negotiations. The pressure might have worked too, as NBCU and Google reached an agreement earlier this month.
Roku stock tumbled last week, likely due to investor anxieties over the approaching deadline. Shares dropped 3.2% on Thursday and a further 0.9% on Friday. Roku shares showed some modest improvement into the week, recovering 0.4% on Monday. While last year was stellar for Roku, things might be a little rockier going forward, especially with no end in sight in its ongoing dispute.