GOOGLE TV CAN BE A GAMECHANGER FOR MEDIA BUSINESSES - Kapil Suravaram, Media Consultant

Google TV has been announced and much has been written about it from a technological standpoint and consumer standpoint. What has missed the first notes about it is that Google TV has the potential to change the dynamics of media business across the globe.

It is not that Google TV has a new technology or an innovation. Everything that Google TV can do has already been developed earlier by other companies. Apple TV and many other set top boxes have already tested the waters. However they have not been extremely sucessful due to numerous factors. For one Apple TV tried to limit the source of content. No single provider can hope to become a funnel for the entire content. Others have done better on that front but did not have the or PR machinary to reach out to large audiences. If Google TV learns from the experiences of others it should not try to make youtube or something similar to be the sole interface for accessing content from the device. Instead it should try to create a simple interface like google reader which can aggregate the content from the viewers favorite sources on the internet.

The following are the reasons of why I think Google TV will change the way media content is distributed:

- Google has the expertise to develop a great and easy to navigate user interface
- Googles expertise is search. Therefore I think google will try to make its device a medium through which viewers can search for content rather then becoming a content provider.
- Considering that those who can be active on facebook can easily navigate through the interface of a set top box and considering that 5% of world population is now connected to facebook, the potential for popularity of such a device is very high, especially in the urban & effluent markets.
- It is the Urban & effluent markets that are sought after by the advertisers and thus the television channels & content developers.
- Google has the capability to produce and market the device in large numbers in effect bringing down its cost that can result in its widespread adoption.
- The popularity of content for niche audiences on the web will be transfered to the device through the device.
- Every television channel is likely to stream its content on the web and it is very likely that viewers can watch these web streamed channels through an easy interface on the device. This will eliminate the necessity of cable connection and break the cable companies strong grip on what is available to the viewers.
- The choice of content for the viewers will be massive; be it on demand content or streamed channels.

However Google is not an open source community that is there to churn out social work for the world. It will need a business model that generates revenues in ways apart from the sales of the set top box so as to maximize profits for its share holders. This it can achieve through revenue share from premium content, promotional cost of premium content in its interface and by way of putting contextual advertisements in numerous forms.

This again brings back the other side of the coin. While google set top box has the potential to increase opportunities for content providers and television channels to reach out to more audiences without fear of the present hurdles of the cable distribution system; on the other side it makes it attractive to advertisers to go to just google to advertise to its audiences. Finally I think more number of media businesses will flourish thanks to Google TV but they will be dependent on google for their share of the revenue pie from advertisers.

About the writer:
Kapil Suravaram is a Media Consultant with experience in a variety of media industries. He has done Masters in Media Management from the Newhouse School of Syracuse University, NY, USA & also a Masters in Communications from SN School, University of Hyderabad, India. He is the CEO of EastFx.tv which is a complete media solutions provider. He can be contacted on kapil@eastfx.tv