Google has reached a major roadblock in its negotiations with major U.S. networks for its Google TV services, which would be made and integrated by other manufacturers and OEMs such as Logitech. Google has been in talks with ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC, but the networks are skeptical that Google’s ambiguous business model would be beneficial to them as they view Google TV as a competing product that may cannabilize the more lucrative traditional broadcast market.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Google is trying to convince networks to share video information and data to integrate better into search results: “When a user searches for a show like ABC’s “Desperate Housewives,” for instance, Google’s software will list episodes scheduled to air on TV and airing at that moment, along with episodes and other related content online.” Networks still are wary and don’t know what the business model is. According to CBS, the “key next step is gaining an understanding of Google’s business model for the product and how it relates back to content owners such as CBS.”
Google, for its part, is probably eager to enter the television advertising market (in one way or another), after early successes on web-based advertising and mobile advertising. Google could potentially sell ads for videos played through Google TV, though it hasn’t disclosed whether networks and studios would get a cut of the ad revenues.
The Google TV service would aggregate all the web videos and allow users to play any web-based videos–whether they’re from YouTube or from the network’s own websites, on the web. Users can search for a television show or series, and the results would be playable within Google TV’s interface.
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