• The Los Angeles Times, Wednesday, August 18, 2010 1:30 PM

Google TV -- which aims to let viewers bypass broadcast networks and cable channels in their pursuit of TV shows and movies -- is making Hollywood a little uneasy. "The prospect of Google getting into television frightens many in Hollywood, who worry that Silicon Valley will upend the entertainment industry just like the Internet ravaged the music and newspaper industries," reports The Los Angeles Times.

"By bringing the Web directly to the living room TV, entertainment industry executives fear Google TV will encourage consumers to ditch their $70 monthly cable and satellite subscriptions in favor of watching video free via the Internet."

"It's kind of an end-run around their control of signal, and that's scary," Harold Vogel, president of media investment firm Vogel Capital Management, tells the LA Times regarding broadcasters' response to Google TV. "Because if you don't control the signal, then you can't provide your own advertising. It really destroys the legacy business model." As the LA Times notes, many fear that content pirates could have a field day with Google TV.

Read the whole story at The Los Angeles Times »