When Google flips the switch on its forthcoming Fiber service later this year, a WSJ report indicates Kansas City residents might have the option to use Google as their cable tv provider as well.
Just weeks after Google began laying fiber-optic cables for Google Fiber in Kansas City, the WSJ has uncovered a FCC filing outlining Google’s TV/video plans.
Google could launch its TV service as soon as a month or two from now, according to a media executive currently involved in negotiations to license channels to the service. The service would offer subscribers live TV, as well as on-demand and online access to TV channels, similar to services from major cable operators, this person said.
While the plan for now is restricted to Kansas City, this person said Google had discussed expanding it to other markets that Verizon Communications Inc. hasn’t entered with its fiber-optic TV service, dubbed FiOS. It remains unclear whether Google intends to do so, but it would have that right under at least some of the deals it is currently negotiating with TV channels, this person said.
If approved, the TV service could launch within a few months and could be 100x faster than current broadband in the US. Combine this with Google’s nearly acquired rights to Motorola’s set-top box technologies and their investments in original content for YouTube, and a picture starts to paint itself. [WSJ via Business Insider]
https://gizmodo.com/youtube-pays-100-million-to-channel-hollywood-star-pow-5854441
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