Behold, the future of TV: The Internet
The idea of watching TV on the Internet is not new. Back in 2010, Google was trying to get cable television to play nice with online video with a product called Google TV.
But Google TV never really took off, in part because to actually watch your favorite shows, you still needed to buy a separate cable package. Google is now reportedly trying to replace cable with broadband streaming, by making deals directly with the TV networks that created the content.
“In essence, that would be changing the current model,” says Bill Carroll, director of programming for the Katz Television Group. “Since the model for the most part seems to be working, someone would have to make a pretty significant case as to why this is a better way.”
That case is being made by consumers.
Alex Costantini lives in Brooklyn. He used to have a cable package worth almost $100 a month.
“We basically got the premium package. NFL Sunday ticket, everything imaginable,” Costantini says.
But instead of channel surfing, he found himself always watching ‘The Colbert Report,” “Game of Thrones,” “Mad Men.”
“I still, at the end of the day, had a group of maybe five to 10 shows that were my go-to shows,” he says.
He’s now moving into a new apartment, and trying to figure out a cost-effective way to watch only those shows.
Google’s new product will likely require subscribe to a bundle of channels, like a cable subscription — a model similar to a product being rolled out later this year by Intel. But that could change.
“The age-old common denominator is money,” says entertainment analyst Robert Galinsky. “And the industries are realizing that this is where the money is.”
But it will take time for the networks to find a way to make as much money in a world where consumers watch TV online, and a la carte.
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