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Google Looking to Offer Paid Streaming TV Shows?

Tuesday December 1, 2009 8:40 am PST by Eric Slivka
MediaMemo reports that Google is looking to enter the business of offering paid television content, a move which would add a new competitor to Apple's iTunes Store TV offerings. Google's service, however, is reportedly planned to utilize a streaming delivery method via YouTube rather than the download model used by Apple.

YouTube already lets users watch a smattering of TV shows for free, with advertising. Now it envisions something similar to what Apple and Amazon already offer: First-run shows, without commercials, for $1.99 an episode, available the day after they air on broadcast or cable.

Sources say the site's negotiations with the networks and studios that own the shows are preliminary. But both sides seem optimistic, since models for such deals already exist. No comment from YouTube.

One possible question with Google's plan is whether consumers will accept streaming delivery over the more familiar download delivery generally favored for paid content. While executives have cited studies showing that most purchasers of downloaded TV content watch each show only once, convincing the public to rely on streaming video for the same $1.99 they have traditionally paid for downloadable content may not be easy.

But the networks and studios, which control pricing, will want to sell the streamed shows at the same price as downloads; they fear that offering them at a different price will force them to go back and rework their existing deals.

Another tactic possibly under consideration is for Google to offer less popular TV shows that are currently unavailable through other digital outlets, providing the company with additional flexibility in its pricing model.
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Mykbibby
29 months ago
What an awful idea. Streaming=free, legal downloading=paid, end of story. I'll watch 30 second Hulu ads over this any day.
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MacKiddyWiddy
29 months ago
ou this could be pretty interesting depends which tv companies will agree though
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satcomer
29 months ago
This makes me think of those Google fan boys thinking Google is not going after Apple. This is another nail in the coffin between Google and Apple.
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mrgreen4242
29 months ago
If it's a one time (or one day) rental model, I can't see paying the same $2 Apple charges for a download. They'd have to get the price way, way down. I would probably pay up to 50 cents for a decent quality 'rental' of a TV show, but I would also expect to get a discount for buying whole seasons (down to say 25 cents an episode). Also, if I was paying for the service, I would expect some simple, relatively cheap way to get the content to my TV.

On the other hand if they are selling you a "permanent license" to the content and simply storing it for you remotely and you can retrieve it anytime in the future the $2 per episode might be palatable (to some) depending on quality, device compatibility, etc.

I wish, though, that these online offerings would start to move away from per show/episode pricing though. Give me a service that competes with cable by letting me rent bundled packages at a monthly rate. I typically don't need or want to 'own' episodes of a TV show. If I had unlimited access to the content for 30 days after release that would be enough. Nice to see another big player in this field either way.
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Chaos215bar2
29 months ago
$1.99 is way too much if you don't get to keep it.
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anthony11
29 months ago

On the other hand if they are selling you a "permanent license" to the content and simply storing it for you remotely and you can retrieve it anytime in the future the $2 per episode might be palatable (to some) depending on quality, device compatibility, etc.

... until they expire the content, or discontinue the service.

I kinda like to watch shows without constant stuttering, so "streaming" doesn't cut it for me.
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Shasterball
29 months ago
Ya, I'm not paying $2 for a one-time stream... It calls for too much dependence on a good internet connection (and Time Warner just isn't consistent enough).
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roland.g
29 months ago
With a download you can then watch it offline on a notebook on a flight, on a touch, nano, classic or iphone or your computer or even Apple TV. Streaming greatly restricts your viewing options and doesn't allow for a start and stop viewing method. Watch part, finish later on another device.
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BJMRamage
29 months ago
no deal here.

sure i may only watch it once but i have options to watch anytime.

for the same price this is a no go for me.
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BJMRamage
29 months ago
maybe this goes hand-in-hand with Google's Cloud OS or whatever that crap they want to spread is.
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