Say Hello to the Newest TV Powerhouse: Google

copyright Adage.com
by Claire Atkinson
published October 16, 2006

Is YouTube Really Worth $1.6 Billion? It Is If You Can See Convergence Coming.

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- When Mike Seal, a New York-based human-resources executive, realized his TiVo had failed to record the Oct. 4 premiere of ABC's "Lost," he simply pulled up his PC, connected it to his TV and streamed the show via ABC.com. That's just the kind of consumer behavior that is fueling talk of Google becoming the de facto sixth broadcast network.

For early adopters like Mr. Seal, the ability to play online video on a TV screen is today's reality. "It's so easy to do; there's no technical savvy," he said. "It's literally treating your flat screen as if it was a computer."

When it was announced last week that Google would buy YouTube, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said: "If you believe it's the future of TV, it's clearly worth $1.6 billion. If you believe it's something else, you could write down that maybe it's not worth much at all."

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