Roku and NBCUniversal are at loggerheads, with NBCU on Thursday night telling the streaming company it plans on pulling its NBC Everywhere channels — which includes content from NBC, Bravo, E! and USA, among other channels — from the service. Altogether, Comcast-owned NBCUniversal may have 46 NBCU apps removed as early as this weekend from Roku, per a notification the service sent to customers on Friday morning.
The dispute comes as the two sides continue to negotiate over the distribution of Comcast’s new streaming service, Peacock.
“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,” a NBCU rep said in a statement. “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.”
A Roku rep said the company had offered to extend its current agreement with Comcast and the TV Everywhere channels, which had expired at the end of last month, “so that they remain accessible while we continue to work towards a Peacock agreement.” The rep was also adamant Roku is not in favor of removing the apps, but that Comcast had directed the service to do so, using the “playbook” from “old legacy cable carriage wards.”
“We recently learned that Comcast plans to revoke consumers’ access to NBC TV Everywhere channels on the Roku platform by making Roku delete these channels on/or as early as September 18, 2020,” the rep said. “These consumers, a number of whom are Comcast customers, have paid to access these channels via their cable TV subscriptions and now cannot view this content on Roku, their platform of choice. Comcast is removing the channels in order to try to force Roku to distribute its new Peacock service on unreasonable terms.”
The service added that the channels “represent an insignificant amount” of streaming hours and revenue for Roku.
Peacock launched in mid-July, but was missing from — and continues to be missing from — the two biggest streaming platforms in Roku and Amazon Fire TV. At the heart of the disagreement over Peacock is the cut Roku takes — 20% for signup fees and 30% of ad inventory. The company has said it’s willing to lower those for Peacock, but the two sides still haven’t come to an agreement on where to meet.
Roku’s stock price dipped 2.1% in early-morning trading on Friday to $161.18 per share.
Emmy Predictions in All 23 Major Categories, From 'Watchmen' to 'Schitt's Creek' (Photos)
These are our best guesses for what shows will come out on top at Sunday's 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards, but beware: It wouldn't be the Emmys if a few of the winners didn't come out of the blue.
"Curb Your Enthusiasm" "Dead to Me" "The Good Place" "Insecure" "The Kominsky Method" "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" "Schitt's Creek" "What We Do in the Shadows"
Predicted winner: "Schitt's Creek"
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Anthony Anderson, "black-ish" Don Cheadle, "Black Monday" Ted Danson, "The Good Place" Michael Douglas, "The Kominsky Method" Eugene Levy, "Schitt's Creek" Ramy Youssef, "Ramy"
Predicted winner: Eugene Levy, "Schitt's Creek"
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Christina Applegate, "Dead to Me" Rachel Brosnahan, "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" Linda Cardellini, "Dead to Me" Catherine O'Hara, "Schitt's Creek" Issa Rae, "Insecure" Tracee Ellis Ross, "black-ish"
Mahershala Ali, "Ramy" Alan Arkin, "The Kominsky Method" Andre Braugher, "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" Sterling K. Brown, "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" William Jackson Harper, "The Good Place" Daniel Levy, "Schitt's Creek" Tony Shalhoub, "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" Kenan Thompson, "Saturday Night Live"
Predicted winner: Daniel Levy, "Schitt's Creek"
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Alex Borstein, "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" D'Arcy Carden, "The Good Place" Betty Gilpin, "GLOW" Marin Hinkle, "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" Kate McKinnon, "Saturday Night Live" Annie Murphy, "Schitt's Creek" Yvonne Orji, "Insecure" Cecily Strong, "Saturday Night Live"
Predicted winner: Alex Borstein, "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel"
OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A COMEDY SERIES
"The Great" (episode: "The Great") "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" (episode: "It's Comedy or Cabbage") "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" (episode: "Marvelous Radio") "Modern Family" (episode: "Finale Part 2") "Ramy" (episode: "Miakhalifa.mov") "Schitt's Creek" (episode: "Happy Ending") "Will & Grace" (episode: "We Love Lucy")
"The Good Place" (episode: "Whenever You're Ready") "The Great" (episode: "The Great") "Schitt's Creek" (episode: "Happy Ending") "Schitt's Creek" (episode: "The Presidential Suite") "What We Do In the Shadows" (episode: "Collaboration") "What We Do In the Shadows" (episode: "Ghosts") "What We Do In the Shadows" (episode: "On the Run")
Predicted winner: "The Good Place" (episode: "Whenever You're Ready")
OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES
"Better Call Saul" "The Crown" "The Handmaid's Tale" "Killing Eve" "The Mandalorian" "Ozark" "Stranger Things"
Predicted winner: "Succession" "Succession"
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Jason Bateman, "Ozark" Sterling K. Brown, "This Is Us" Steve Carell, "The Morning Show" Brian Cox, "Succession" Billy Porter, "Pose" Jeremy Strong, "Succession"
Predicted winner: Jeremy Strong, "Succession"
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Jennifer Aniston, "The Morning Show" Olivia Colman, "The Crown" Jodie Comer, "Killing Eve" Laura Linney, "Ozark" Sandra Oh, "Killing Eve" Zendaya, "Euphoria"
Predicted winner: Laura Linney, "Ozark"
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Nicholas Braun, "Succession" Billy Crudup, "The Morning Show" Kieran Culkin, "Succession" Mark Duplass, "The Morning Show" Giancarlo Esposito, "Better Call Saul" Matthew Macfadyen, "Succession" Bradley Whitford, "The Handmaid's Tale" Jeffrey Wright, "Westworld"
Predicted winner: Kieran Culkin, "Succession"
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Helena Bonham Carter, "The Crown" Laura Dern, "Big Little Lies" Julia Garner, "Ozark" Thandie Newton, "Westworld" Fiona Shaw, "Killing Eve" Sarah Snook, "Succession" Meryl Streep, "Big Little Lies" Samira Wiley, "The Handmaid's Tale"
Predicted winner: Julia Garner, "Ozark"
OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A DRAMA SERIES
"The Crown" (episode: "Aberfan") "The Crown" (episode: "Cri de Coeur") "Homeland" (episode: "Prisoners of War") "The Morning Show" (episode: "The Interview") "Ozark" (episode: "Fire Pink") "Ozark" (episode: "Su Casa es mi Casa") "Succession" (episode: "Hunting") "Succession" (episode: "This Is Not for Tears")
Predicted winner: "Succession" (episode: "This Is Not for Tears")
OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A DRAMA SERIES
"Better Call Saul" (episode: "Bad Choice Road") "Better Call Saul" (episode: "Bagman") "The Crown" (episode: Aberfan") "Ozark" (episode: "All In") "Ozark" (episode: Boss Fight") "Ozark" (episode: "Fire Pink") "Succession" (episode: "This Is Not for Tears")
Predicted winner: "Succession" (episode: "This Is Not for Tears")
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE
Jeremy Irons, "Watchmen" Hugh Jackman, "Bad Education" Paul Mescal, "Normal People" Jeremy Pope, "Hollywood" Mark Ruffalo, "I Know This Much Is True"
Predicted winner: Paul Mescal, "Normal People"
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE
Cate Blanchett, "Mrs. America" Shira Haas, "Unorthodox" Regina King, "Watchmen" Octavia Spencer, "Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker" Kerry Washington, "Little Fires Everywhere"
Predicted winner: Regina King, "Watchmen"
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, "Watchmen" Jovan Adepo, "Watchmen" Tituss Burgess, "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. the Reverend" Louis Gossett Jr., "Watchmen" Dylan McDermott, "Hollywood" Jim Parsons, "Hollywood"
Predicted winner: Jim Parsons, "Hollywood"
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE
Uzo Aduba, "Mrs. America" Toni Collette, "Unbelievable" Margo Martindale, "Mrs. America" Jean Smart, "Watchmen" Holland Taylor, "Hollywood" Tracey Ullman, "Mrs. America"
Predicted winner: Jean Smart, "Watchmen"
OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A LIMITED SERIES, MOVIE OR DRAMATIC SPECIAL
"Little Fires Everywhere" (episode: "Find a Way") "Normal People" (episode: "Episode 5") "Unorthodox" "Watchmen" (episode: "It's Summer and We're Running Out of Ice") "Watchmen" (episode: "Little Fear of Lightning") "Watchmen" (episode: "This Extraordinary Being")
"The Daily Show With Trevor Noah" "Full Frontal With Samantha Bee" "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" "Last Week Tonight With John Oliver" "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert"
Predicted winner: "Last Week Tonight With John Oliver"
OUTSTANDING COMPETITION PROGRAM
"The Masked Singer" "Nailed It!" "RuPaul's Drag Race" "Top Chef" "The Voice"
Predicted winner: "RuPaul's Drag Race"
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With Emmy favs ”Game of Thrones“ and ”Fleabag“ gone, who will take their place?
These are our best guesses for what shows will come out on top at Sunday's 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards, but beware: It wouldn't be the Emmys if a few of the winners didn't come out of the blue.