Google Will Have Access To BBC TV
While Google TV faces hostility from many TV channels, both in Europe and North America, the BBC takes a different approach. The British channel has concluded that since Google TV is only intending to broadcast content already present on the web, it
Online, November 24, 2010 (Newswire.com) - Recently a wave of defiance rose against Google TV in the U.S. and Europe, when Google proposed to show TV on its interactive platform. However, the company can at least count on the support of a major British television channel. It was reported recently that the BBC did not intend to block TV programs on Google.
"There is a big problem in understanding the concept of Google TV by others. It already returns content already available on the web" recalled Daniel Heaf, director of digital content from BBC Worldwide. "I have no problem with that. I'm pragmatic. The only question I ask myself is: do I sell my content better than Google does?" he said in comments reported by Freenews.
"If this is not the case, why not make the most of the advantage and the firepower offered by Google and Google's advertising revenues share?" Daniel Heaf concluded. This idea of sharing ad revenue is obviously far from being shared around the world. The deputy director of eTF1, Jean-François Muller, explained in early November that his group did not have to share with others.
"The flow of TF1 can not coexist with third-party applications. First there are regulatory constraints and there are also economic reasons for not sharing your content. If you buy a football match at several million Euros, we do not see why others should benefit from our audience to generate revenue without our agreement." French channels also offer a charter of good conduct for television manufacturers to discourage support of Google TV
This hostility is also found across the Atlantic, as several television networks increasingly restrict or block the broadcast of their programs on the interactive platform. They fear that Google will see an increased advantage in increasing its revenue generated form the television sector.
In the past, the BBC was quick to capitalize on the Web or peer-to-peer to expand its distribution and hence its audience. In 2006, the British television channel had bet on Azureus to broadcast programs on sharing networks, despite the presence of DRM to prevent piracy. A year later, an agreement between the BBC was unveiled with YouTube.
Also in 2007, the British TV station had hired the former project leader of KaZaA, so that it can develop new interactive services. The BBC has also signed various agreements with MySpace to broadcast 150 programs on MySpace TV and share advertising revenue.
With the advent of new TV technologies such as 3D TV and internet TV, the development between the BBC and Google could be an exciting one to offer the audience a bigger choice on the internet