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On Friday YouTube announced that it will launch over 100 original content channels. Will this finally break Google's into the TV industry? Everything shows that this might be a shy but safe new start.
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Google has tried to break into the TV world many times without much luck. Even though YouTube -its online video platform- managed to catch the attention of users and viewers that were seeking online audiovisual entertainment, it was never comparable to traditional or even to emerging TV models. Television offered at least a half-hour of fun, while YouTube featured viral five-minute videos with kittens jumping around. Television offered quality content, while YouTube was basically made up of user-generated content. Television offered series, while YouTube offered music videos and mini-segments of new stars.
Google's second attempt, Google TV, ended up being much ado about nothing. The world of opportunities that it intended to open became smaller and smaller as US TV networks cut down access to their content, arguing that Google was too big of a threat. That, in addition to defects in its design, made users walk away from the revolution, with returns surpassing purchases for Logitech at the beginning of the year.
The third one was not the last one. Facing the potential sale of Hulu, Google stood up as one of the main interested candidates to get hold of the big prize. Yet, News Corp., Disney and Comcast finally decided not to sell, leaving the search giant just as lonely as it was before.
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BIG NAMES
But now everything can change. On Friday YouTube announced that it will be launching over 100 channels with exclusive content on its platform, which will try to cover all sorts of topics and niches. The content will not be produced by YouTube but by popular artists and renowned production companies worldwide. For instance, FremantleMedia, RTL, Lionsgate and News Corp. have already confirmed their contributions and it seems clear that the new project is not just a mere trial test but a further attempt to give TV its death blow, something that Google has been looking to do for quite some time now.
In addition to production companies, YouTube will also give celebrities the chance to have their own online audiovisual channel and artists of the size of Madonna, Shaquille O'Neal, Ashton Kutcher and Sofía Vergara have already confirmed they will be taking part. Most channels will be officially presented in November and they are expected to start airing next year.
THE REVOLUTION IS NOT HERE YET
According to sources quoted by Business Insider, Google would have paid US$100 million in advance to those that will be feeding the channels with content, expecting to get the money back with ad revenues. It has also been said that Google will have no creative control over the channels' content.
Will this be the coup de grace? As everything else in the industry, the answer will depend on the content itself. So far we know that there will be theme channels; FremantleMedia, for instance, will produce for a pet channel and Lionsgate will focus on fitness, connections that look somewhat strange but may work. Regardless of the US$100 million, content will be key for the platform to really get to compete with traditional TV and it will be up to viewers to decide if they enjoy Madonna's dance channel or Shaq's comedy channel.
In August Eric Schmidt, president and former CEO of Google, said to a group of top executives that Google is not a content production company. "We provide platforms for the people to get involved with the content and via automatic software, we show announcements next to the content that its owners decided to upload," he said. "We do not have the ambition or the know-how to produce content at large scale... but of course we are helping to finance this content."
And exactly there lies the problem: Google cannot compete with content producers because it is not interested in producing and does not have the necessary experience to do it either. But Google does know how to organize, search and offer a place in the neverending cloud. Maybe the day it figures how to actually produce content instead, it will finally keep its promise of revolutionizing the TV industry. After all, no one really ends up shooting the messenger.
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Where Everything Grows
