Viacom Makes it Clear: No to Google TV
Viacom made public their reaction against Google TV, making a common front together with Fox, ABC, CBS or NBC. Its protest against the new form of television distribution via web browsers is not seen with good eyes at the cable conglomerate, bringing a bit of deja vu to its relationship with Google. Comedy Central, MTV or Nickeldeon line up as the less probable of networks to be seen on Google TV.
Viacom has a blooming portfolio of lawsuits against media platforms: earlier a tension disrupted their collaboration with Hulu.com, because of payment misunderstanding and the conflict between YouTube has a long history, spanning more than a few years.
The idea of Google becoming more popular and influential in terms of advertisement space wasn’t immediately sanctioned by broadcasters. The Google’s annually revenues from advertisement are about $24 billion and Viacom is playing the strategy of hardener supplier. Google TV cannot run a comprehensive lineup without their service cooperation, keeping the cable game a ferocious one.
Viacom’s position is clearly stated by their assignee: “We’re blocking access to our full episode content from Google TV’s Web browser. We continue to evaluate Google TV to identify opportunities where it may make sense to optimize our Web content for the platform.”
Although Viacom worked well during the last year, in terms of reported income, the company is trying to improve their management team and beyond. Recently, they announced that Rock Band game is on sale. It was not a profitable business anymore, and Viacom’s efforts right now are to clean the company assets and streamline business.
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