When does Google dominate the media business? “They already do,” says Brian Wieser, senior research analyst at Pivotal Research. “The reality is from a time consumption perspective, from an ad spending perspective, there’s nothing like Google, and unlike Facebook, they are reasonably well run.” Wieser adds “If Google wants to be a big player in traditional TV they will be. They haven’t invested yet in any meaningful way.”
Pivotal Research Senior Analysist Brian Wieser discussed Google and technology in the media business this morning on Bloomberg:
When Does Google Dominate the Media Business?
They already do. The reality is from a time consumption perspective, from an ad spending perspective, there’s nothing like Google, and unlike Facebook, they are reasonably well run.
At the end of the day if you are CBS you have to focus on building up the content library by selling content directly to consumers and selling it through other channels. You can argue that CBS has been a little further ahead than the others. They were more thoughtful in not participating in Hulu years ago, which was not necessarily a good idea for the partners. They invested heavily in All Access which is doing reasonably well, so that’s good. They are actually building up their properties in a direct to consumer model. The business won’t be as good as the old business but it’s durable.
If Google Wants to Be a Big Player in TV They Will Be
If Google wants to be a big player in traditional TV they will be. They haven’t invested yet in any meaningful way. I think it’s fascinating when we think about sports rights, which is one of the anchors to building out a business going forward, Facebook has hired the former head of Eurosport, Amazon has actually hired the former head of negotiations for Fox Sports. They are going to be big players when it comes to bidding for sports rights domestically in the next couple of years when big rights come up. That is a potential source of competition. Google could very well if they choose to be.
But as a practical matter, the TV business has more players that are trying to use it. Amazon wants to make money from streaming video because they know that they get a better Prime customer, so that’s a totally different set of economics, so they’ll invest on an ongoing basis. For CBS if they keep building good content, keep delivering direct to consumer, they leverage regulation to favor retransmission consent rules or take advantage of them rather the business is durable. It’s just a melting iceberg.