The Wall Street Journal reported that Google is having difficulty negotiating with major broadcasters to join them in their latest technology, Google TV. While Google aims to partner with broadcasters to offer video on demand to viewers directly into their TV sets, the broadcasters, however, fear that Google would eventually cannibalize the industry much like how they devoured publishing companies with Google Adwords.
Back then, space for magazine advertisements are sold for millions of dollars, but with Adwords giving the advertiser guaranteed traffic through online advertising for a few pennies every time an ad of theirs appear, such unfair competition put several publishing companies out of business.
This is what worries broadcasters. Google TV would offer real-time statistics of who is watching what, compared to traditional ratings system that is all based on projections and extrapolations. Once advertisers become aware that a show only actually brings in 10,000 viewers an episode, they would surely avoid putting ads on it like a plague.
We will see how this develops.
Source: Wall Street Journal, via CrunchGear
