Three major television networks – ABC, NBC, and CBS – are stopping Google TV from accessing streaming video through their websites, according to the Wall Street Journal. That means while you can stream free full episodes of NBC’s “The Office” or CBS’s “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” from a traditional computer, you won’t be able to watch from a device running the Google TV service. For the moment, Fox is still allowing Google TV access to its streaming content, but is reportedly considering blocking access as well. Web streaming site Hulu also blocks Google TV.
Google TV connects to HDTVs and set-top boxes and makes use of the Android operating system. Earlier this month, Sony and Logitech both began to sell devices that support the service. Google won’t profit from selling the Google TV service itself, but will rely on its tried-and-true model of driving profits through its ad-based business model.
The dispute highlights an ongoing reluctance on the part of established media companies, which produce content, to support ventures by newer tech companies, which want to distribute that content. Some of the companies have expressed concerns over Google’s search engine displaying links to pirated content.
Google released a statement that its TV service “enables access to all the Web content you already get today on your phone and PC, but it is ultimately the content owner’s choice to restrict users from accessing their content on the platform.” Reuters reports that Google is “actively negotiating” with the three networks.
Earlier this month, the three networks and Fox announced that they were holding off on getting on board the Google TV bus. Other companies, including Time Warner and Turner Broadcasting, decided that they would go ahead and support the service and optimized their websites specifically for Google TV. HBO announced that it would allow subscribers to access hundreds of hours of content directly through Google TV.
Bunch of deluded savages
chickens!
This is a stupid move by the media companies. Google TV could potentially drive millions of hits to these companies' websites, and they could make plenty of money running their own ads with their programs when people watch them on Google TV. Now, they are driving the consumers to the pirated sites where people will still get the content for free, and the media companies will not make a penny. A quick Google search of "Grey's Anatomy" will not only bring up ABC's website with streaming episodes, but it will also return hundreds of other websites where you can watch those same episodes for free. Plus, the kind of people who will actually buy Google TV are the same ones who know how to hook their laptop up to the TV and watch streaming content that way. If these companies do not want the episodes on their websites streamed to the television, then they shouldn't put streaming content on their websites at all. Their stubbornness is leaving them behind the times, and they are going to lose major profits on their own content.
in india all the TV networks are using the content from movies without paying and enjoy revenue…. now this new technology overcomes tv & going to earn thats it simple…
Be afraid, be very afraid of Google
I think the major networks are affraid of Google TV because it could cut into their profits if it becomes really popular. I think they need to adapt to this new technology not just try to block it out.
"If anything, Google is collecting user data which they use to generate a profit, but using others content to get people to buy their product. "
Exactly–the major networks want people to continue to watch TV during prime-time hours, which is simply not conducive of today's lifestyle for many.
On the other side… the networks are in constant battle against piracy. They are likely taking advantage of this situation to request that Google makes some kind of effort to block sites that have pirated versions of their content. Which I can't really fault them for…
For the record, I am not for Big Media, I just know that Google has something up their sleeve ;)
The networks are protecting the Cable and Satellite companies and the revenue that they receive from them. It is silly because I can stream the content on my PC, optionally install Boxee, and have the same content on my TV. If they are going to block Google, then they should block everyone. Better yet, don't put your content on the web. And then die when forward thinking companies put their content on the web.
They ARE trying to block everyone else.
That's like saying it's OK to block streaming on a Mac and not a Windows computer. Google TV is just another computer form factor. Why is it OK to block them from streaming their videos? The companies can still integrate ads into their video streams. I fail to understand what Google is doing wrong here.
Because I assume Google is making money off of their content without their permission? People are spending money for the device (which Google gets a cut of), and I assume Google will run ads against their content (or maybe not?). If anything, Google is collecting user data which they use to generate a profit, but using others content to get people to buy their product.
Not to sound like a prick, but these companies have every right to block their content on Google TV. Who the hell does Google think they are to stream content from someone without their permission? Google is making money from this, not those companies.
In regards to Hulu, I am sure they would have no problem with this as long as they could control and show their own ads, without having to split the revenue with Google.
I see your point, but where does it end? How about Google blocking all searches to the networks and all of their content, including the video hits to their news stories. NBC draws a lot of traffic to their cable outlets because of Google hits. Hell, no one watches MSNBC now, imagine without the help they do get from Google and Bing. Companies pull these stunts all the time, (hello Apple), but are the first in line to bitch about someone not supporting their product (hello Microsoft). You think it's bad now, wait until Comcast and NBC Universal start deciding what content internet users are allowed to see. My ISP is blocked from watching ESPN content because Roadrunner greased their wheel. How about Comcast and NBC coming out with a proprietary flash like item that only works on their sites and they block anyone that has flash installed on their computer.Sound far fetched?
I think it ends when Google realizes that if they want to enter the content biz, they better, well umm, create content! Being a platform for people to use, and then expecting traditional media companies to come knocking on their doors to get a cut doesn't work.
It would be the equivalent of someone setting up a lemonade stand on my driveway without my permission because my house draws eyeballs, and then asking me if I want a cut of the profits later. Umm hello, get the hell off my drive way.
Consumers only like this because it benefits them. There is no thought as to how the content made it there, or how the creators are getting compensated. They just want quality content without paying the price! Only in a perfect world haha.
How about Google works with the content creators BEFORE showing their content without the permission?
"Google TV isn’t stripping the video off the sites. It’s not inserting its own ads into the content. It’s not knocking down firewalls, eating small children nor sacrificing animals. It’s simply letting you use a web browser, exactly as you’d use a web browser on a Windows or Mac computer."
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"It would be the equivalent of someone setting up a lemonade stand on my driveway without my permission because my house draws eyeballs, and then asking me if I want a cut of the profits later. Umm hello, get the hell off my drive way. "
Using this logic, all search engines are held equally at fault for providing bits of other peoples content alongside their for-profit AD's without getting permission of the ~1 trillion website owners.
"Google TV isn’t stripping the video off the sites. It’s not inserting its own ads into the content."
Don't be fooled, there is a business model in here somewhere. Google is a for-profit company. They do not produce content, but make money off of it. Big media knows this. Just because we cannot recognize the model now, doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Google has a habit of providing things for "free" to users ad-free, then slowly sliding the ads or revenue model into the product AFTER its been adopted by the masses.
"Using this logic, all search engines are held equally at fault for providing bits of other peoples content alongside their for-profit AD's without getting permission of the ~1 trillion website owners."
That doesn't make it right. And that's the very reason why Rupert Murdoch and others are putting up paywalls. And as you pointed out, search engines are using "bits" not full content. This is why YouTube is constantly in court, they are using full content – illegally.