Google unveils partnerships for its TV service
Google Inc. on Monday announced partnerships with media and Internet companies that will provide content for its new television service that debuts this month in devices made by Sony Corp. and Logitech International.
Amazon Inc.’s Video on Demand will give Google TV viewers instant access to more than 75,000 movies and TV shows for a fee and Netflix Inc. will make video streaming available.
“One of our goals with Google TV is to finally open up the living room and enable new innovation from content creators, programmers, developers and advertisers,” Ambarish Kenghe, developer product manager for Google TV, said in a blog post.
The partnerships are the result of talks with the major TV networks and cable and satellite distributors. Noticeably absent from the Google announcement are ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox. Many media executives are concerned that Google would cannibalize their broadcast businesses.
But Google is forging media partnerships: NBC Universal has teamed with Google TV to create CNBC Real-Time, an application with which viewers can track their favorite stocks and access news feeds on the TV screen; HBO will have programming for subscribers on an enhanced website; and the NBA has built NBA Game Time, an application for viewers to follow game scores in real time and catch up on the latest highlights in high definition.
Google and Hulu confirmed Monday they are in talks to bring Hulu Plus to Google TV. The $9.99 monthly subscription service would enable viewers to watch current shows from ABC, NBC and Fox, whose parent companies all share a stake in Hulu. Hulu Plus also offers an extensive library of content that includes all past seasons of such popular shows as the “X-Files” and “Arrested Development.”
Google’s television software, which it first announced in May, is being built into new Sony high-definition televisions and Blu-ray players and into Logitech set-top boxes that can be used with television sets. Logitech is planning to discuss the device, called Revue, at a news conference this week in San Francisco.
Sony is expected to roll out its Google TV devices this month. Google has pledged to make the software available to other manufacturers. Analysts say pricing will be a key hurdle. It’s not clear that consumers will be willing to pay for new devices in their already cluttered living rooms.
Google is banking that television will be a new venue for it to sell advertising. The company has been meeting with advertising executives to explore ways to sell ads through Google TV.
jessica.guynn@latimes.com
