CBS To Sell TV Shows, Cutting Out Google Video Store
Looks like CBS is cutting out the middleman in the Google Video Store, announcing it plans to sell TV shows for $1.99 from its website. CBS hasn’t said it will pull out of Google Video, but I can’t imagine it taking less money just to use Google’s currently unpopular distribution channel.
Considering that, at this point anything is better than Google’s go-nowhere DRM, why would anyone buy the same videos for the same price with less options from Google? No word yet on what the DRM scheme will be. Videos will still be handicapped by the 24-hour day pass that makes them so unappealing on Google.
New episodes of the popular “Survivor” reality television series will be made available for download directly from CBS Corp.’s Web site for $1.99 per episode, a first in network TV, the company said on Wednesday.
Its latest plans gives the television network an option to use its own online properties to distribute shows rather than relying on other companies such as Internet company Google or Apple Computer Inc.’s popular iTunes service.
New episodes will be available shortly after midnight following the airing of new episodes on TV. Customers will be able to watch the episode for a 24-hour period after paying.
UPDATE: According to MarketWatch, CBS is talking to iTunes. Now that is a vote of no confidence in Google.
(via Dvorak > Findory)
C’mon Nathan. Can you imagine CBS taking less money for DVDs they sell through retailers than they’d make selling direct?
Of course you can. People come to CBS, you want to be able to sell them video direct. It doesn’t mean you want to then not be in other video distribution channels.
And to say Google Video is unpopular? According to??? Last stats I saw, they were like the second or third most popular video search area. Unpopular is not the same as poorly designed, badly implemented, etc.
In the end, CBS is going to want to be in front of eyeballs wherever they are. If they decide to narrowcast on just CBS, they miss the audience they’d get if they broadcast through multiple channels.
Comment by Danny Sullivan | February 2, 2006
Danny, CBS has to be getting a better deal from their own store than they get from Google. If Google gives them 80%, that’s good, but not as good as 100%. Still, there is an advantage to using other channels, so long as they don’t undercut you in price.
As far as I’ve heard, Google Video is pretty popular, but Google Video Store is not. Lack of content, inconsistent and occasionally high pricing, lack of portability and other factors mean few people are looking to buy.
Thank god CBS realizes more eyeballs=more money. I’d watch the over-the-air commercials online, just as long as I could see more TV online.
Comment by Nathan Weinberg | February 2, 2006
Nah, doesn’t matter if Google is keeping 50 percent of the sales price. You aren’t thinking it through correctly. 100 percent of zilch is still zero, if no one is coming to you to buy. Or alternatively, keeping 100 percent of 100 sales isn’t as great as 80 percent of 1000 sales.
If Google, Apple, anyone can sell CBS shows, that’s profit. If CBS is absolutely positive it could play a game of making everyone come to it directly, then keeping everything makes sense. They aren’t certain of that so far, from what I’ve read. Having direct sales in addition to distribute sales is a smart move. It’s no different than merchants that sell direct but still sell through affiliates or Amazon. Merchants don’t feel their outlets are undercutting them. They view them as moving product.
Hey, you’ve got it on me if you’re a big portable content video buyer about the popularity of Google Video, though. I don’t buy portable video. But since it’s all so new, just seems sort of early to be writing Google off. I’ve seen zilch stats on what purchases are like. Maybe Google will release some after the service is say an actual month old. Perhaps we’ll see some third party release comparison estimates for Google versus Apple and so on.
But overall, I keep seeing stories saying CBS is cutting out Google or Apple both. They haven’t said that at all, from what I’ve seen. They’re just selling direct in addition to through distributors — and as long as the retail price is the same to the consumer, the consumer has no giant incentive to go to CBS.
Comment by Danny Sullivan | February 2, 2006
Good points. Seems like CBS is banking on them being able to draw traffic to their website. Don’t be surprised to see ads on CBS touting the online store, which will make it better known than Google’s.
Wider delivery is certainly better, unless CBS is convinced they can do it all on their own and make more money (and TV execs are nothing if not egotistical). Still, they’ll probably use multiple channels.
The portable question is a big deal for many people, not just because of iPods, but because of transferring to other computers. Apple won’t license their DRM, which only leaves Microsoft’s Windows Media DRM, since the whole non-Apple device market uses WM. I don’t know if Google would be willing to license Microsoft’s DRM.
Comment by Nathan Weinberg | February 2, 2006