You might be getting that soon if you’re a Google TV user; the company’s TV streaming platform contains text that hints at 50 included live TV channels.
The purported new feature seems to be called “Google TV Channels,” based on text found in the launcher app. And there’s also an image in the software that hints at what channels will be included in the new service.
Wouldn’t it be neat if you could get free streaming TV channels without downloading an app or signing up for a new service? First, it’s the usual lineup of internet-streamed free channels like ABC News Live, NBC News Now, and USA Today.
There are also a bunch of background noise channels like Divorce Court, American Classics, and Deal or no Deal. You’ll even get the Hallmark Movies channel and enjoy the one where a big city lawyer learns to love the simple things after falling in love with a rugged baker. And you’ll get the Reelz channel where you can watch my actor friend play a soft-spoken cop.
Many of these channels are available on other free or cheap streaming TV services, including Pluto TV, Philo, and Sling TV. But these are services you’d have to sign up for, whereas Google is taking the approach that some TV manufacturers like LG and Samsung are doing with their Smart TVs — giving buyers something to watch in just a few clicks on a remote.
Google’s 50 channels sound slim compared to the 175-plus with LG Channels and over 200 with Samsung’s TV Plus, but you probably won’t have to buy a whole new TV or download an app to take advantage of it.
Google TV is a discontinued innovative operating system from Google co-developed by Sony, Intel, and Logitech. It launched in October 2010 with official gadgets initially made by Sony and Logitech.
Google TV incorporated the Android 3.0/3.2 operating system and Google Chrome web browser to form an interactive television overlay on top of existing online video websites to add a 10-foot user interface for an innovative TV experience.
Google TV’s first generation gadgets were all based on x86 architecture processors and were created and commercialized by Sony and Logitech. The second generation of machines is based on ARM architecture processors with additional partners, including LG, Samsung, Vizio, and Hisense.
More second-generation Google TV-supported devices were revealed by new partners, including NetGear, TCL, Hisense, and Asus, some of which have 3D video support.
Google TV thrived in June 2014 by Android TV. This newer platform shares closer ties with the Android platform and has an overhauled user experience integrating with Knowledge Graph and delivering casting support from mobile devices. Unfortunately, as of June 2014, the Google TV SDK is no longer available, terminating any future software development for existing devices and deprecating the platform.
Google TV leveraged numerous Google existing products. Google TV’s operating system, a customized rendition of Android 3.0/3.2 designed for TV, provided the underlying foundation, allowing developers to devise applications that extended the system’s functionality. In addition, Google’s Chrome browser provided a gateway to the Internet, allowing consumers to browse websites and watch television in tandem.
Consumers could access CNBC, HBO, and content from other providers through the Chrome browser. In addition, Android and Apple mobiles and tablet computers could be remote controls for Google TV. Google TV products dispatched with wireless remote controls with a complete QWERTY keypad. An update in November 2011 authorized access to Google Play and enabled search to discover content from live TV, Netflix, Amazon, YouTube, HBO GO, and more.
Xyologic has collected a list of the early Google TV apps with the most significant number of installations. As of November 2012, the most nestled apps were Napster, Pandora Radio, and CNBC.
Reelz is an American digital cable and satellite television network possessed by Hubbard Broadcasting. The network’s programming was previously devoted to entertainment-oriented programming concentrating on the Hollywood film and entertainment enterprise, with programs featuring information on theatrical film releases and news on movies released on DVD and airing on cable television.
Outside a few entertainment programs, replays of the Oxygen series Snapped, and some reality series and films, the network primarily airs original and acquired movies, series, and documentaries about celebrity disgrace.
Reelz is available to around 68.2 million pay television households in the United States. The network was pitched on September 27, 2006, as ReelzChannel, initially available on satellite providers DirecTV and Dish Network. The web initially maintained a programming focus similar to the original format of E!, focusing on programs about the entertainment industry, including movie reviews and junket interview series.
The network ultimately signed carriage agreements with diverse cable providers, including Time Warner Cable, Comcast, Charter Communications, and Altice. The network’s programming was then tailored to allow the insertion of order details and channel positions for film labels being delivered through each provider’s pay-per-view and video-on-demand systems.
ReelzChannel shifted its operations from Los Angeles, California, to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where Hubbard owns that city’s NBC-affiliated television station KOB. KOB and ReelzChannel, however, maintain separate facilities. At that point, the network turned its programming priority to integrating acquired series with its entertainment news programs.
ReelzChannel debuted its original miniseries, The Kennedys. An unauthorized biopic centering on President John F. Kennedy, the Camelot empire, and Jackie Kennedy. ReelzChannel earned the rights to the film after it was enacted by History. In November 2012, the network trimmed its name to simply Reelz.