David Notik

Re: reports that some of the big networks are blocking Google TV from accessing full shows via their websites, the same websites that are publicly available via any other means of accessing the web, my thoughts are as follows.

This is analogous to a situation where the networks blocked your Samsung LED TV because they hadn't worked out an arrangement w/ Samsung. Or blocked your Firefox browser on a Dell machine because they hadn't worked out an arrangement w/ those respective companies.

Google is not slapping ads on or alongside any existing content. If you're on NBC's site on your Google TV, you're seeing what they choose to show you, including ads they control. Wouldn't content producers want more eyeballs on their decidedly public content?

Sure, Google is in a strong position controlling the interface to that content, and the networks fear this just like big industry has feared most every innovation forever. But what do they fear exactly? Google would never rip out an existing content provider's ads and slap on their own -- it would be an outrageous and self-harming move, and there are laws against that stuff (or will be in a jiffy, at least). Are they afraid of a potential deluge of new eyeballs on their web content, pulling viewers away from their currently more lucrative cable content? I understand that they'd like to control the pace of change themselves, but they all know evolution is inevitable and delivery is moving to the web and so figure out a way to harness these changes and turn it into money.

This won't last long. Market forces will prevail and it simply won't be acceptable to block content because of one's choice of browser. I wouldn't be surprised if a law were introduced prohibiting that, though I think legislation would be ridiculous. And when Google TV supports apps, someone may create a user-agent switcher making it hard for these sites to block it.

TV is converging with Web. There may be a ruckus along the way, but it's happening.

Or as succinctly stated here:

[Br]oadcast networks can’t stop the future, no matter how hard they try. TV viewing habits are increasingly trending towards consumers skipping traditional broadcasts and instead catching up via DVR or web video at their convenience. Forcefully cutting off legitimate points of access like Google TV or Apple TV isn’t going to stop users from skipping live broadcasts. The networks’ time would be better spent looking at how they can take advantage of new viewing trends, instead of hopelessly trying to defend dying business models.