Google plans internet TV service and 'even shows off a demo'
Google is looking at an Internet TV service that would stream traditional TV programmes, a report in the Wall Street Journal says today- and has approached media companies about licensing their content.
Google: Going for the TV market?
The report, quoting , people familiar with the situation, said that in at least one case, Google had provided a demonstration of the product, according to a person who saw it.
If Google goes ahead it would join several other companies - Sony , Intel and Apple are just three of the names - thinking of offering services that deliver cable TV-style packages of channels over broadband connections
Such Internet-TV services could have "major implications for the traditional TV ecosystem," says the WSJ, creating new competition for pay-TV operators that are already struggling to retain video subscribers.
Existing online-video players like Netflix Hulu and Amazon offer on-demand TV, but the latest efforts are aimed at offering conventional channels, allowing consumers to flip through channels just as they would on cable, as well as on-demand programming.
On factor working against the idea is that media companies are nervous about undermining their lucrative arrangements with existing distributors by licensing to new online pay services.
They would rather expand online and on-demand availability of their programming through current distributors, say media executives told the WSJ.