RTL Deutschland intends to block Google TV from accessing its online programming.
Google intends to launch its Google Play service in Germany following the availability of Sony Google TV devices in the German market. Google TV operates with Android software and allows viewers to access on-demand and live streaming television on the internet.
“We intend to cooperate with other television manufacturers,’ told Google spokesperson Mounira Latrache to Deutschen Wirtschafts Nachrichten, “But so far, there are no concrete plans.”
The German RTL group said: “We have a problem with third parties who try to monetise our content at our expense. That’s why we will not make our content available on Google TV.”
Fellow private broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1 is not worried about Google TV, “It is a niche service. In the market for hybrid TV applications it is not the technical service that matter, but the content itself,” according to the group’s spokesperson, Marcus Prosch.
Through its VOD service Maxdome German viewers have access to over 50,000 legal movies and episodes of TV programmes.
