Google TV Is a Tough Sell Among Would-Be Partners

Google is launching a campaign to line up TV networks' support for its new Google TV software, but many remain reluctant to partner with a service they believe encroaches on their turf.

The service will allow people to watch and search cable, satellite and Web programming—as well as access regular Web pages—through TVs and set-top boxes that incorporate new Google software. The first devices, made by Sony Corp. and Logitech International SA, are due out this fall, marking another tug-of-war between tech companies eager for new content and media companies worried about giving it away. In recent weeks, Google has met with officials of TV networks including ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC to encourage them to work with the service, according to people familiar with the matter. Content owners, though, are skeptical that Google can provide a business model that would compensate for potentially cannibalizing TV owners' existing broadcast businesses.

The prospect of Google getting into television frightens many in Hollywood, who worry that Silicon Valley will upend the entertainment industry just like the Internet ravaged the music and newspaper industries. By bringing the Web directly to the living room TV, entertainment industry executives fear Google TV will encourage consumers to ditch their $70 monthly cable and satellite subscriptions in favor of watching video free via the Internet. Others believe it will fan piracy because Google refuses to block access to bootleg movies and television shows. And, perhaps most troubling to Hollywood, Google doesn't yet know how it will make money on Google TV — and whether it intends to compensate the studios and networks for the content.