Several of the major TV networks recently announced that they will not be allowing their content to be aggregated or included in search results for Google’s new gadget Google TV. They say that to do so would give too much control of their content to the tech giant. They are afraid of several things that may result from individuals on a large scale bypassing cable and satellite providers. Many also believe that a major worry is simply that Google may make more money from advertising in the living than they will if the device is to gain popularity. Leading the way in the network frenzy to stop Google TV are ABC, CBS and NBC. Fox has yet to make a stand either way.
The largest problem here may simply be that cable and satellite companies currently pay the networks billions of dollars each yea in royalties and they networks aren’t sure if they will be able to recoup that if everyone cancels their traditional services and moves to watching TV online. The movement would certainly be disruptive and may change the entire economics of television.
One shining ray of hope however is that most of the cable networks have yet to make a decision and Google is still in negotiations with hulu to offer a premium subscription service that would give Google TV users access to episodes from ABC, Fox, and NBC. Users would most likely have to pay a subscription fee though.
So what does our favorite search engine think about all this? Executives from Google say that blocking content on their device will do nothing to stop the growing trend of watching TV programs online and will only frustrate consumers.
