Is Google Eyeing NFL Programming?
One clearly disruptive player in Internet communications is Google Fiber ( see “When Will the Rest of us Get Google Fiber?”) which is showing it’s possible to provide ultra-fast Internet in the United States for far less cost than people are paying now for slow service. The rub is this: most people want television with their Internet. While Google did strike some content deals to offer TV with Google Fiber, the battle for Internet service often comes down to a battle over who’s got the best content package – with sports channels being particularly in demand.
That’s why this post in All Things D intrigues. The writer suggest suggests Google may be interested in buying the rights to the NFL’s “Sunday Ticket” package, now offered by DirecTV, which gives football addicts every game televised in other markets, together with all manner of ways to consume game highlights. The nub of the piece: ”Today, according to sources, Google CEO Larry Page, along with YouTube content boss Robert Kyncl, met with a delegation from the NFL led by commissioner Roger Goodell. And the Sunday Ticket package was among the topics of discussion, according to people familiar with the meeting.”
A Google spokesman, Jay Nancarrow, said the company had no comment on the report. But if Google/YouTube plunked down the cash for “Sunday Ticket”–and folded it into their TV and fiber offerings–it would certainly help accelerate the course of Google Fiber’s Internet disruption in the U.S., even if some of the company’s ideas for Internet expansion abroad are a bit more outlandish (see “African Entrepreneurs Deflate Google’s Internet Balloon ”). And it could also help breathe life into Google’s other forays into television–a recently-announced dongle that lets you play Internet video on your TV (see “Google Launches a Dingle to Bring Online Video to TV”), and the set-top boxes called “Google TV” that have so far struggled in the marketplace (see “Google Breathes New Intelligence Into its TV”).
Keep Reading
Most Popular

The big new idea for making self-driving cars that can go anywhere
The mainstream approach to driverless cars is slow and difficult. These startups think going all-in on AI will get there faster.

Inside Charm Industrial’s big bet on corn stalks for carbon removal
The startup used plant matter and bio-oil to sequester thousands of tons of carbon. The question now is how reliable, scalable, and economical this approach will prove.

The dark secret behind those cute AI-generated animal images
Google Brain has revealed its own image-making AI, called Imagen. But don't expect to see anything that isn't wholesome.

The hype around DeepMind’s new AI model misses what’s actually cool about it
Some worry that the chatter about these tools is doing the whole field a disservice.
Stay connected

Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review
Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.