While many people are focused on the recent launch of Google TV, there are a range of existing alternatives for people who want more than just TV on their TVs -- or who may what to "cut the (cable) cord" entirely. The chart below offers a short overview and comparison of the major providers and systems available in the US market. It is not intended to be definitive or exhaustive. Each product or system below requires some sort of new hardware, either a set-top box or a entirely new TV. Prices range from a low of $59 for the cheapest Roku box to well over $1,000 for the largest Sony Internet [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Video | Features: Analysis | Google: TV | Internet-To-TV | Search Engines: Video Search Engines | Top News | Yahoo: Partnerships | Yahoo: Video

About two years ago, NBC and Google teamed up to enable Google to sell TV ads to be aired on NBCU cable channels. adWeek reports the deal has be "aborted." adWeek said: NBC Universal and Google have discontinued their ad sales partnership begun in 2008, the companies have confirmed. The split deprives Google's TV ad sales unit of one of its major alliances, although it still has deals in place with Dish TV, DirecTV and a handful of smaller networks like Ovation and the Tennis Channel. Why did the partnership end? Reportedly NBC wasn't benefiting at all from it. The report said, t [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Video | Google: Business Issues | Google: Partnerships | Google: TV

The Internet is buzzing about the latest Google announcement about Google TV. Google shared with us their content partners for Google TV and their new web site for Google TV at google.com/tv. The content partners and providers include Twitter, Netflix, the New York Times and USA Today, VEVO, Pandora and Napster, blip.tv and their very own YouTube Leanback. Other content providers for actual viewing include Turner Broadcasting including TBS, TNT, CNN, Cartoon Network and Adult Swim; NBC Universal including CNBC Real-Time; HBO with HBO GO; NBA has built NBA Game Time and more. Twitter [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Video | Google: TV

A Wall Street Journal article this morning reviews the state of so-called connected TV, which used to be called IPTV. All the big search players have initiatives going. According to the article Google has told ad executives at major agencies that it will put ads in Google TV SERPs: The Internet giant has told ad executives that it eventually plans to sell ads that appear in search results when consumers search for what they want to watch, some of those ad executives say. But those spots won't interrupt the ad stream that appears during a program. The company has told media-buying execut [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Video | Google: TV

Google's gained quite a reputation for surprising attendees at conferences with an "Oprah" moment of giving them free Android phones. But phones, that's so last year. With Google TV about to launch, Google's upped the giveaway ante -- handing out Google TV units for attendees at its Google Zeitgeist conference. Zeitgeist is billed as Google's "Partners Forum," and it brings together some of Google's top advertisers and others to hear a series of inspirational talks that have little to nothing to do with Google's actual business. It's like a mini-version of the well-known TED conference. The [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Video | Google: TV | Top News

Most of Apple's announcements yesterday were anticipated. Still there were a few surprises; for example the specifics of the iTunes-based social network Ping, as well as the pricing of Apple TV 2.0 ($99). Apple pre-empted Google to some degree with both products. Business Insider does a nice job of contrasting the two TV initiatives and their differing strategies. In a nutshell, Google wants to bring the internet to the living room in all its unruly glory, while Apple is bringing a more elegant and limited version of internet content to TV. Apple TV is mostly focused on professional enterta [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Video | Google: Mobile | Google: Social Search | Google: TV | Top News

Social TV guide Clicker, also sometimes called "TV Guide for the internet," launched its iPhone app this morning. An iPad app is on the way. It's cool and useful and it contains some, but not all content, available on the Clicker.com site. Here's the list of the app's content and features per the Clicker Blog: Search Clicker’s massive database of online programming Check-in to your favorite TV shows, movies, and Web series Follow your friends on Clicker and see what they’re watching Rate and discuss shows and movies Earn show awards and badges Manage your Clicker Playlist [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Video | Google: TV | Search Engines: Video Search Engines

Notwithstanding the glitches, the demo last week was impressive: the seamless blending of TV and web content, the beautiful UI, the smooth search and browse capabilities. Now, a few days after the heady discussion and CEO briefings at Google's I/O developer conference, we can reflect a bit on what the outlook might be for this ambitious new Google initiative. Is Google TV (GTV) another Orkut or will it turn out to be more like the software it's built on -- the increasingly successful Android platform. The specter of other failed or only modestly successful attempts to bring web and T [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Video | Features: Analysis | Google: Mobile | Google: TV | Google: Web Search | Top News

It's very had to overstate the potential impact of Google TV (GTV) announced today. While there have been numerous efforts to put the internet on TV in the past (including Apple TV), none have really succeed with mainstream consumers. This may be the first Web-TV integration that has that potential. Our Why Google TV Might Threaten The iPad post has some reflection on the potential deeper implications of Google TV, and we'll have even more "big picture" pieces later. But for now, the nuts-and-bolts of on how it will work, how to get it and more: What is Google TV and when will it be [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Video | Features: General | Google: Mobile | Google: TV | Google: Web Search | Google: YouTube & Video | Top News

I tweeted that the release of Google TV might let Google leap over the iPad. What? How's that? Some people tweeted questions back, so I thought I'd expand a bit more. One of the biggest things to me about Google TV is that it will allow people to run Android apps on their televisions. It turns their televisions into computers while also, if it works as promised, still allows them to also easily do what TVs are supposed to do. Watch TV. Now, it's well known that more and more people multitask during TV viewing. They'll have laptops open. Then as smartphones like the iPhone became common, [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Video | Features: Analysis | Google: TV

Following up initial reports that came out last week, the New York Times offers more details today about Google's plans to gain a stronger foothold in our living rooms via what the paper is calling Google TV. Postscript: See this article, FAQ: What We Know So Far About Google TV, for more information about the announcement of Google TV. What is Google TV? Here's how the Times describes it: The Google TV software will present users with a new interface for TVs that lets them perform Internet functions like search while also pulling down Web programming like YouTube videos or TV shows [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Video | Google: Business Issues | Google: TV

Postscript: See this article, FAQ: What We Know So Far About Google TV, for more information about the announcement of Google TV. According to the Wall Street Journal, Google is testing a new TV programming search service with Dish Network: The service—which runs on TV set-top boxes using elements of Google's Android operating system—allows users to search content from Dish as well as other Web video, like YouTube, and to personalize a lineup of shows, according to these people. Viewers can search by typing on a keyboard, instead of using a remote control. Google hopes to link the [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Video | Google: Business Issues | Google: TV

Google is doing some very interesting things in TV and video advertising these days. Not long ago it licensed Nielsen's PRIZM audience segmentation data for enhanced audience targeting through TVAds. Google also recently introduced "skippable" pre-roll ads on YouTube. The idea is to find willing audiences and make advertisers (potentially) only pay when someone watches the entire ad or a substantial portion of it. Now Google has done a deal with TiVo. According to Variety: TiVo will give highly detailed data never previously reported to Google TV ad clients. Google also has a deal with Dis [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Video | Google: AdWords | Google: TV

Earlier today Google announced that it had acquired On2 Technologies in a stock deal worth approximately $106 million. There's little true information about how Google intends to use On2 in the release. Here's the Google quote: "Today video is an essential part of the web experience, and we believe high-quality video compression technology should be a part of the web platform," said Sundar Pichai, Vice President, Product Management, Google. "We are committed to innovation in video quality on the web, and we believe that On2's team and technology will help us further that goal." On2 essential [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Video | Google: Mobile | Google: TV | Google: YouTube & Video

Google's TV Ads platform is getting some help from a company called Visible World, which offers demographic and geotargeted advertising across different media types. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal this morning: Google Inc. is teaming up with Visible World Inc., a well-known New York technology company that uses software to create multiple versions of a given ad, in its push to offer TV advertisers more targeting options. Google will combine the technology with its Google TV Ads, an automated auction-based system for buying TV ads by choosing which shows best fit the adv [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Video | Google: AdSense | Google: AdWords | Google: Partnerships | Google: TV

Across the TV industry there are various efforts going on to bring more targeting into TV advertising. The readers of this blog know about Google's TV advertising initiative. But SpotRunner and various others (e.g. Project Canoe) have been working to bring "addressable advertising," the kind of targeting that exists online (demographic, geo, even behavioral), to television. According to the Wall Street Journal, NBC has now adopted Microsoft technology to do something similar: The technology NBC is deploying will add a layer of demographic information as well as automated ad buying. It analyze [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Video | Google: TV | Microsoft: Bing Ads | Microsoft: Partnerships

It used to be common wisdom that Google never did consumer marketing. That's changed over the past few years, with Google doing everything from billboards to radio ads to bus "wraps" to push particular Google products. Now it boldly goes into that final frontier, TV ads in the United States. It's a first for Google. The company has never directly advertised one of its products on television in the US, though they have been mentioned in conjunction with ads from Google partners, such as T-Mobile pushing its "G1 with Google" Android phone. Now, Google's using TV to promote its Chrom [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Video | Features: Analysis | Google: Chrome | Google: Marketing | Google: TV | Top News

YouTube is clearly evolving before our eyes -- from a site that was largely about viral, user-generated content (UGC) to a premium content destination that may one day be a viable replacement for cable TV. First the news. Google/YouTube has signed deals with more studios to expand the range of full-length TV and movies content on the site. From the NY Times today: The agreements with the studios, which include Sony, Lions Gate, MGM and others, are significant because YouTube dominates online video. Nearly two-thirds of all video views in the United States occur on YouTube, according to the [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Video | Features: Analysis | Google: Partnerships | Google: TV | Google: YouTube & Video

It's now a cliche to point out that consumer audiences have fragmented. However, once mighty media have seen audiences dwindle over the past five or so years. Accordingly almost all traditional media are struggling, exacerbated by the recession to be sure but caused by the rise of the internet (mobile will fragment audiences further). Many advertising sales channels are trying to respond to the audience fragmentation issue with network and/or multi-platform strategies. Call it an effort to put "Humpty Dumpty back together again." Google for its part had once seen itself as a kind of medi [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Video | Google: AdWords | Google: Mobile | Google: Other Ads | Google: TV | Google: YouTube & Video

Google's TV Ads team has announced the addition of new metrics detailing time-shifted viewings of your TV ad. Here's the formal explanation from Google's announcement: "[Time-shifted viewership data] ... provides you with insight into how and when viewers see your ads during DVR playback of recorded content. As with all metrics in your Google TV Ads reports, time-shifted impressions reflect the viewership of your specific TV commercial, not just general program viewership." The new reports are free, and are live in advertiser accounts now. Google's blog post includes a video showing how [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Video | Google: AdWords | Google: TV