It looks like Google's rocky road in Hollywood is going downhill fast. Falling into step behind early nemesis Hulu, which has worked hard to block Google TV access to its web content (even after Google TV owners discovered an early workaround), ABC, NBC and CBS have all started to block access to their web content through the nascent device.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Fox and Viacom, for the moment, are allowing access to their programming though Google TV, but they said they're evaluating their positions.
Reuters, meanwhile, says Google is trying to negotiate with the three broadcasters to lift the ban.
Google TV, which rolled out earlier this month on a Logitech set-top box (the Revue), a Blu-ray player and a small selection of HD TVs from Sony, hoped to have an easy time convincing broadcasters that combining an Internet experience with over-the-top TV content would be a boon to the industry.
But the company has struggled to get Hollywood onboard, partly because it's seen as an outsider in the entertainment industry, and primarily because the concept of making content easily available on the web worries content owners concerned with piracy.
NBC and ABC are owned by two of the three companies that own Hulu, NBC Universal and Walt Disney Co. The third member of the triumvirate, News Corp., owns Fox, so it would appear that network likely would fall in line unless new deals are brokered.
Google TV has managed to line up some content partners, notably CNBC, HBO, and Turner, which has optimized a number of its sites for display on Google TV.
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