TBS, TNT shows coming to Google TV, report says
Turner Broadcasting, which owns both networks, will let Google TV owners watch its shows, as long as people can prove they're subscribers to those networks, a new report claims.
Although Google TV's lack of support from content providers has proven troublesome for the platform, it appears that at least one network is ready to try its luck with the service.
According to GigaOm blog NewTeeVee, Turner Broadcasting, which owns both TBS and TNT, will bring full-length episodes of its shows, including "Closer" and "Falling Skies," to Google TV. In order for people to watch the shows, they will need to verify that they are, in fact, subscribers to Turner's networks, NewTeeVee says.
Google TV launched last year to much fanfare. However, soon after it was made available, television networks started blocking access to their online content. The fear was that Google TV owners would use the platform's Web browser to find their favorite shows available online and then watch them there, rather than on television. This response was a significant blow to Google TV that, so far, hasn't been overcome.
To try to improve adoption of Google TV, the search company is planning to offer people access to its Android Market when the platform is updated with Android 3.1 "Honeycomb." Although there is no telling what applications might be made available to the platform, NewTeeVee claims the TBS and TNT content will be available to users as apps.
Related stories:
• Android developers can start writing Google TV apps
• More bad news for Google TV
• Some networks blocking Web shows on Google TV
Bringing applications to the television is by no means new. Currently, most major television vendors, including Samsung and Vizio, offer applications on their devices. However, aside from Netflix and Hulu Plus, few content providers have been so willing to deliver their freely available content to those platforms.
In a statement earlier this year, Google acknowledged that the idea of bringing content to televisions is still very much in its infancy, but it believes its Android Market could be enough to get content providers moving in the right direction.
"It's early days for Google TV and for Internet-connected TVs in general," a Google spokesman wrote to CNET earlier this year. "At Google, we launch products early and iterate quickly based on consumer feedback. Our engineers are doing just that, and they're developing the next version of Google TV, which will, for example, include Android Market. This will enable the applications from thousands of developers to come to Google TV."
Neither Google nor Turner immediately responded to CNET's request for comment on the NewTeeVee report.