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Our review unit hasn't even arrived yet and the networks are already raining on the Google TV parade. ABC, CBS and NBC are blocking Sony and Logitech devices packing Google's TV-oriented implementation of Android from streaming television shows. The appeal of Google TV is the ability to access streaming video from the Web, but limiting the content it can stream also limits our interest. The networks are wary of Google's business model, fearing that streaming shows won't make up for the revenue lost from viewers switching from broadcast to online viewing.In an effort to safeguard some of that revenue, ABC, CBS, NBC and Hulu have all confirmed to the Wall Street Journal that they are actively blocking Google TV. Fox is mulling a ban, but has yet to reach a decision on the matter (although it's worth noting that Fox is part of the partnership behind Hulu). Google is avoiding stepping on the toes of the content providers for now, and said in a statement that it is "ultimately the content owners' choice to restrict their fans from accessing their content on the platform." There's still hope that Google can strike a deal for access, perhaps following a Hulu Plus subscription model. But this could also shape up to be an epic battle between viewers and providers à la Hulu and Boxee.
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Comments
5
Subscribe to commentsMarkOct 22nd 2010 12:01PM
I thought I remember reading that Google TV had a setting to send "Generic" browser headers that the providers couldn't block (because it would mean blocking pretty much everybody).
CandyOct 25th 2010 7:48AM
That's a shame because we canceled our cable tv when the price went up to $140 per month and have no television capability (we have older tv's.). To be able to catch a program through google tv was attractive for me but, since the networks want to be jerks about it, they will get zero attention from me.
ChuckyOct 25th 2010 8:55AM
@(Unverified) - Do you really need 275 channels, and a DVR Cable Box?? You can just get basic cable and internet for $50-70 with a cable provider. I personally dislike all cable providers, and broadcasters. They say its for the viewers, but is it really or is it about the $$$$(in Billions). Hulu and Netflix is about $10.00, and you can watch on PS3, Laptop, and Smart Phone, any time and as many times as you want. So you can just get internet for $40.00 in your house and still stay in tune with your TV.
S.S.Oct 25th 2010 11:24AM
One of the posters here, used the term...I think it was the networks "depriving us of content".....Jesus Christ people, this Internet crap has got to go......file sharing, live streaming theft of people's time and monitary investments in their property......companies selling personal data and making money on it.....
The internet is a rippoff fest for all the slime in the world.......you just didn't do a fricken thing but turn on your computer to earn ANYTHING from the sale of things that don't belong to you.....you are, by definition, crimminals.....
Why don't you just get a key made for someone elses car? Maybe help yourself to what's in your neighbor's fridge? OH, GEEZ, I forgot, they're not digital....because if it's digital, it must be free.....
Personally, I think, except for sites like legitimate sales companies like amazon, and the online versions of real companies......and news, school related things.....the internet should be blown off the face of the earth.....hey, crack makes you feel good, but it carries a price....the internet has people as crazed for the irrational like any other drug and obsession.
gwankneyOct 28th 2010 1:39PM
I'm not looking to the internet to rip off content from the providers; the networks make it readily available for the price of my watching ads - just like TV over-the-air. I'm willing to pay that price. I am not willing to pay their inflated monthy charges for masses of content I don't want just to get the few things I do. Big dish used to allow a-la-carte pricing, which seemed fair to me.