Could Google TV Be The ITV Magic At Last? - Simon Applebaum - MediaBizBloggers

It's now up to you, and you, and especially you, paraphrasing the end of a yesteryear TV classic.

Five months after announcement, Google TV, for sure the most ambitious interactive TV effort yet, is real and available for public consumption. A quartet of Sony HDTV set models featuring Google TV went on sale nationwide at SonyStyle stores this past weekend. Best Buy stores and Amazon.com will offer the sets this coming week, followed by Dish Network's intro of Logitech's Google-fueled Revue set-top boxes (also in stock at Best Buy and Amazon.com).

I've seen Google TV in action through both approaches (thanks to press events the last two weeks in NY), and for me, no question this is the best, attractive, easy to work through interactive process yet.

The content, whether from TV, Internet or independent source, looks great on the screen. The search functionality is easy to display and use through a combo remote/keypad (in Sony's case) or remote/keyboard (from Logitech). You have the option of doing interactive TV full-screen, or using ITV as a supplement to the program you're watching. And there are enough neat applications off the bat, such as YouTube, Pandora and Twitter, to keep you interested.

What's more, both Sony and Logitech have launched Google TV with unique features that by themselves, could become feature attractions. In Sony's case, that's Quiocity, a video-on-demand service for Sony-produced movies and TV shows that in time, will expand to games and other applications. And at the Sony press event, senior VP Mike Abary hinted that the VOD service could offer movies available just days or weeks post-theatrical release. Big news for viewers; upset guts for movie theater owners.

Logitech's Google version includes video telephony, with use of a TV camera attached to the set-top. Not only can you make calls to friends and family, then see them on the screen, you or they can zoom the picture in for a more intimate conversation. The HDTV video call is clean--no snowy or strobe-looking transmission. Just like Skype or Cisco's new Umi system, this process is open to independent developer innovation which can result in a wide variety of new beneficial applications, such as video reservation or medical information on-demand.

Three things will determine Google TV's fortune in this marketplace. First, how consumers weigh the benefits vs. price. Sony's initial price range--$599 for a 24-inch HDTV to $1,399 for the 46-inch model--appears fine, but given unease over the economy and employment, those prices may have to be taken down considerable notches to spur sales. Ditto Logitech's $299 Revue box, plus $149 for the video telephony camera. Second, how Dish Network does marketing Google TV among its 14 million-plus subscribers. If Dish can draw an audience, there's no way Comcast, Time Warner Cable, DirecTV, FiOS etc. can keep their behinds on the sideline for long. The faster they get on board, the faster Google TV can travel down the road to success.

Third and for sure not least, how fast Google TV can introduce applications from developers anywhere. The game plan now is to open this platform among those 100,000-plus Android developers and 50,000-plus Adobe Flash application creators early next year. While sticking to that course, Google officials can be in action A) bring a steady flow of other content into the mix the rest of this year; B) convincing as many of those 250,000-plus IPhone and IPad application makers currently shut out of involvement with Apple TV to work up Android versions of their ventures, and C) set up a fund to jump-start application development, either on their own or with participation from venture capitalists and angel investors. Samsung is off to the races with their own "Free The TV Challenge" developer competition, offering $500,000 in prize money.

Google TV brings the ITV magic home to me, but whether it flies or flunks comes down to whether that magic hits home with you, you, and especially you. ***** Observations from the passing parade: ***Here we are, week five of the new TV season, and (as of this writing) not one new broadcast TV series has gained audience from its debut presentation. Not one. Let that sink in for a moment: not one. Viewership of these programs are declining week by week, and more and more, it's looking like this may be the first season ever where the public has turned away from an entire assortment of new programs. With cable networks introducing a bunch of new shows the last two months of 2010, or bringing on new episodes of series like Burn Notice, it won't get easier.

***A few days after my last Tomorrow Will Be Televised column on the Muscular Dystrophy Association's Labor Day telethon, MDA decided to cut the length of its annual fund-raiser to six hours from 21.5. The program will run from 6 p.m. to midnight Labor Day eve in all time zones. True, this action puts an end to telethons as we knew them for years. But it does not let MDA's telethon producers off the hook. The shortened format makes it all the more important that the best entertainment talent possible entertain here. Once again MDA, if your existing production team can't deliver, drop them for people who can.

***Most interesting announcement of the week: Sims creator Wil Wright developing his first TV effort, Bar Karma, a futuristic scripted series on Current TV where viewers shape the plots and character development. Grapevine buzz suggests more offbeat scripted series will be in Current's near-term future. Until the next time, stay well and stay tuned! Simon Applebaum is host/producer of Tomorrow Will Be Televised, the Internet radio/podcast-distributed program about the TV scene. The program runs live Mondays/Fridays at 3 p.m. Eastern time, noon Pacific time, over www.blogtalkradio.com, with replays available at www.blogtalkradio.com/simonapple04. Podcasts are available at ITunes.com, 17 other Web sites arranged by Sonibyte, TiVo and Cable in the Classroom. Have a question or comment? E-mail it to simonapple04@yahoo.com.

Read all Simon’s MediaBizBloggers commentaries at Tomorrow Will Be Televised - MediaBizBloggers.

Check us out on Facebook at MediaBizBloggers.com
Follow our Twitter updates @MediaBizBlogger