“Broadcasters ABC, NBC and CBS have blocked full episodes of their shows from being accessed through Google TV’s Web browser since the product became available last month,” Nakashima reports. “Rishi Chandra, Google TV’s lead product manager, likened the broadcasters’ payment requests to a network demanding fees from Microsoft Corp. so video would work on its Internet Explorer browser.”
Nakashima reports, “Analysts have said the broadcasters’ blockade was intended to discourage people from canceling their monthly subscriptions with cable and satellite TV service providers by eliminating the option of watching online episodes for free on their Web-connected televisions. Later, Chandra clarified his remarks to say that although Google TV would not pay to access online shows, another Google subsidiary, YouTube, could extend its advertising revenue-share model to the living room.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Yet another poorly thought out, half-baked, perpetual beta from the so-called “geniuses” at Google.
I guess Schmidt thought that the networks would just let them walk right in. They are going to aggressively protect their turf.
“…likened the broadcasters’ payment requests to a network demanding fees from Microsoft Corp. so video would work on its Internet Explorer browser.”
True, but M$ isn’t positioning its product as a replacement for cable and satellite either. I just love the way Google thinks: Give me your product (video, books, news articles, etc.) for free, so I can make money off of it.
I want my AppleTV.
@ G-Man
Agreed.
In other news, I breifly looked at the google tv in best buy the other day, looks like wbe tv 2.0, nothing more, move along.
People want to be able to obtain access to any and all shows as soon as they are avaliable, and or offer an a-la-carte subscription model. Networks would make a lot more money this way by eliminating quickly channels and content for which only a handful of people watch.
This is what happens when a room full of people with Asperger’s are the one’s making the decisions. I’ve got a touch of the thing also but when you’re a raging geek all you see is the technical dimension and the interpersonal politics just don’t register on the radar.
Seems Google TV is just a hobby too.
Be no evil!
Hey, I have Aspergers and I’m not that tone deaf.
Geeks would do better to invent a way to pull out of the ether whatever they want than think they can negotiate the media sharks.
BTW Steve Jobs predicted Google might run into some of these problems.
Google TV is not even a hobby. It’s an abortion. I’ll take the Apple TV. When people watch their TV’s, they want to be able to control the TV with one hand and hold a beer with the other. That’s why a WebTV like Google TV will never work. TV is a one handed activity.
This is the exact reason why I’m not buying Boxee or Google TV. It they don’t have a formal arrangement with the content providers, whoever purchases their product is going to get hosed.
Apple TV 2 is a safe bet because Apple has formal arrangements with the content providers. Besides, it’s awesome. I’ve never experienced Netflix on other devices like the Apple TV. It’s truly superior.
“Be no evil!”
Be no evil or idiot!
That should make it.
These dumbasses at Gurgle trying to sell that computer browsers are the same their Goofle TV.
Nice try
Google’s TV is an abomination from the start. Its attempt to be the Swiss army knife of convergence is bound to fail miserably. How many people would want a mouse and keyboard on their TV? How many people would want to surf the internet on the TV? How many people would want their e-mail and other sensitive data on the TV. How many people want to read a book on a giant TV screen? How many people would want to make a telephone call on their TV? How many people would want constant interruptions while watching their favorite programs. How many people would want to carry their giant TV screen along with them? How many people would want to do productive work on a TV?
All these activities can be done better and more efficiently on a laptop, a smartphone or the iPad. The giant TV is more suitable for a living-room, lazy experience while for a more personalized service nothing can beat the iPad. Google TV is a feature-ridden polluter.
Not that I am on Google’s side or anything, but, GoogleTV is just another web browser, they’re not selling content like Apple is, so I have to go with the “protecting Cable/Satellite subscriptions” idea.
@ Rev. Dr.
Google is selling advertising content, and the networks want some of that money.
Content providers and content delivery providers need to figure out one single price and just attempt to charge us for the digital content we receive. It is silly to pay for TV and pay for internet access and pay for the iPad access and pay for the iPhone access. Often we are paying multiple times for the same access and content – a good gig if you can get it…
Clearly content creators and deliverers deserve to be paid – no one wants to give up their work product for free… Pricing should be graded so everyone has access to at least something. Voila.
But then they should stop telling us what to do; they should allow us to de-link much of our enjoyment of this content from the wall. They should not care if we wish to watch what we paid for on TV, on iPad (!!!), on smaller device. In this world, that really should be none of their business…
If I could sit on my back porch and watch live NFL games on my iPad (without rigamarole…), I would be in heaven!
See, it is so easy! All you have to do is get the content providers onboard…
This is exactly the issue that we have been discussing for years with respect to Apple’s home entertainment strategy. We should get paid CEO-level money for our insights!
I wonder hoe long it will take Google to sell 250,000 Google TV products. Still loving my easy, simple AppleTV and looking forward to AirPlay.
With EyeTV, Apple TV,NBC/CBS/FOX/SciFi/et al
streaming full episodes on the internet, who needs cable?
Except for keeping the cable modem,I’m dropping all the
rest from my Comcast account. Their biggest fault is
denial of a la carte options and forcing their bloated
packages on its customers.