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Mike Berkley  //  Product Strategy @ Comcast's Social Technology Group. Formerly CEO of SplashCast Media. This is my personal blog. My writing and opinions do not necessarily reflect those of Comcast.

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May 20 / 10:46pm

Some quick thoughts on Google TV

Google TV disrupts the disrupters (Boxee and Roku) while supporting the incumbents (cable).

Google TV is a rev on WebTV. It's about bringing the web to the TV screen. It is not really about making traditional TV any better.

Google TV was clearly designed in Silicon Valley, by web product managers... not by TV product managers in LA, NY, or Philly.

Google TV provides "a million channels". I don't know anyone who wants a million channels.

Google TV's picture-in-picture mode (TV in small frame on top of a web site) is pretty damn cool.

Google TV is truly all about Search. Surprise!

Google TV surfaces Hulu episodes in its TV search engine. Will Hulu cut off Google?  Absolutely.

And...

Google TV as a stand-alone set-top-box won't sell. But Google TV natively installed in Connected TV's, with a cable subscription, could be a home-run.

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May 10 / 8:34am

Is Google TV The New TiVo?

Google TV will be launching its highly-anticipated, Android-based TV operating system in a few weeks. It will come embedded on many Internet connected TV's, as well as a stand-alone set top box.

Google TV is a "converged" product, blending traditional TV programming with web content, VOD, recorded programming, and personal media.

It will have an Android-based TV application platform, with a ton of ready-to-use apps & widgets out of the box.

It will have web search.

It will have the famous Google-simple UI for search and discovery of video, via a comfortable, in-the-lazy-boy chair, lean-back experience.

It will have seamless integration with YouTube. It will have Netflix integration. (But probably not Hulu.)

It ought to be a killer app for the living room.

However...

Google TV won't have TV programming, at least not natively. It you want live news, ESPN, CSN, CNN, HBO, TWC, Discovery, FOX News, MSNBC, etc, you'll need to connect Google TV to your cable service.

You see, Google TV is not meant to be a replacement of your cable service. It is meant to be an enhancer of your cable TV. Or so the Google PR folks say.

This sounds a lot like the TiVo story all over: a killer app for the living room (the DVR), but not a disrupter of the TV supply chain. In fact, TiVo was ultimately unable to compete with the large MSO's, and that has completely diminished their upside.

With all the parallels to TiVo, will Google TV be different? Will it be able to disrupt the TV supply chain, or will the content distributors apply leverage and keep Google in check?

Content is king, after all.

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