Should Google launch a TV service?

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Should Google launch a TV service?

Asked at Google over a year ago

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Tejaswi Jarugumilli · Answer 1 · 2020-05-16T18:16:29+0000

Key Assumptions informing this answer:

By TV service, I'm assuming that this will be similar to AT&T TV Now or Sling TV. Essentially, a cloud based substitute for cable TV
US is the market of focus, with international expansion to follow later based on the success in the US market

I would evaluate this decision from 4 key perspectives: Users, Competition, Alignment with Company Vision, Product Experience

1. Who are the users of this service?

Cloud based TV streaming services appeal mainly to young adults, who are technologically savvy and have high disposable income
This segment of customers is increasingly looking to move away from traditional cable, appreciating the flexibility provided by cloud streaming services of watching TV from any device. However, the TV market is still largely dominated by traditional cable, providing a large user base who will look to shift to a cloud based service given the right product experience
Further younger generations who're now graduating from college have largely grown up accustomed to the internet and would likely enhance this trend of shifting away from cable and adopting cloud based TV services

Considering these 3 factors, this seems to be an attractive user base for Google to target with a TV service

2. What are the alternatives?

Currently, the other prominent players in this market are AT&T TV Now, Verizon Fios, and Sling TV, all of which do not have an established market presence, and only about finding their feet in the Cloud TV service market
This would mean that a new entrant can be less concerned about a strong reaction from a dominant market player

Given the expanding market and no established competitor, Google can enter this market with less focus on displacing a competitor and more focus on capturing the untapped market

3. Does it align with company vision?

Google's vision is ensuring people have ready access to any sort of information: News, websites, images etc. Given that TV still forms a major source of information for most of the population, I would argue that this move aligns well with the overall brand image and vision

4. Can Google differentiate itself from Competitors to enhance product experience and create a sticky customer base?

Let's first consider the current pain points associated with TV viewing and then talk about how Google can enhance the experience here

TV viewing pain points

Unable to find or decide on content to watch
Be able to watch content from anywhere, and anytime
When watching as a couple, want to watch different content
Keep up to date on sport scores, news events etc. even when watching other content
Explore other content on TV when viewing a particular programming
Watch a particular movie or sports game with friends who are at other places

How can Google leverage its ecosystem to resolve these pain points and enhance this experience?

With access to our search history, youtube history and other personal data, Google can augment the TV experience with a recommendation engine that recommends content to watch based on our online search history, the kind of music we listen to, what we have watched previously etc. This scans through the programs that are on when we turn on the TV, and recommends 2 or 3 programs that we'd like to watch
Support viewing from browsers, mobile etc. The program can place a limit on the no. of registered devices at any given point of time. Additional devices can be added by upgrading to a higher plan. This is similar to the functionality offered by AT&T Now, but is kind of tablestakes
Multi-picture support to facilitate viewing multiple programs at the same time, with the ability to adjust the size of the secondary picture. This supports multiple use cases: times when people want to watch different programs, times when you want to follow a sports game when watching a movie, times when you want to explore other programs when watching a movie but want to turn back to the main program when the ads end. The audio can also have primary and secondary sources
Notifications dashboard that stays hidden to the right of the screen but can be pulled up when needed. The dashboard essentially contains important news updates, sports scores etc. similar to summaries provided in the current Google app. Clicking on any of the cards here redirects to the appropriate channel
Google assistant can be leveraged to provide reminders on any interesting TV content that is on, when the TV is not turned on
We could also leverage Google hangouts to facilitate group watching with friends. All the users can register their devices into the hangout session and hangouts can sync the content across the devices

Considering the expanding user base, lack of established competition, and the plethora of enhancements the Google ecosystem can bring to the TV viewing experience, I would say that it is a very attractive opportunity for Google to launch a TV service

Thursday · Answer 2 · 2021-12-30T10:37:33+0000

Clarification

In which segment does Google wants to enter as a service provider?

- Broadcasting business

Streaming business
Cable business
Premium cable business

Assuming One package solution for all that can be used per need of the customers

Which OS will be supported?

Assuming OS

What is going to be objective as a service provider

Assuming Generate revenue and increase in user base for the existing Google products

Describe the product?

Google as a service provider would like to provide the TV service by sharing quality rich content with better user experience.

Strengths- Established in the web content market with wide presence across the globe through multiple Google products.

Weakness- Too much reliance on ad based revenue model

Who are my users?

Individuals, families.

Customer Pain Points

Cable service (Customers Perspective)-

I am dependent on service providers for the network issues and poor service especially during the slight rain or little cloudy weather the cable service impacts very badly
I am paying for the channels that I never use to watch
I am force to pay the money even if I am out of station and not using the cables
Set top box is useless if I change the service provider
Very limited channel without HD and high cost
Poor Service by the service providers
The only difference on premium cable providers is they provide new trending channels in a consolidate package which are paid channels
Advance payment before I start taking the service and it is never refunded by the cable operators if we stop taking their service
If I am not able to watch the content during the designated time then I lose the same

Cable service (Service Provider Perspective)-

Difficult to manage the maintainance services operationally as these driven by third party vendors
Fixed working time 9 am to 5 pm, so if there is a network outage issue then the request will be taken on the next working day as actionable item

Streaming business Cable service (Customers Perspective)

Free content is very limited but when I get attracted and buy the subscription then the frequency of quality content goes down.
I can watch the streaming content from one service provider in one device and can't steam it in two or three rooms together in using multiple device
If I have taken the subscription for 3-4 service providers then I am using just one service provider for the entertainment at a time. Rest, others are idle
We need additional devices in different TVs like chromecaste, firestick to watch the content. Only the hitech Smart TVs are giving it as inbuilt feature which is expensive

Streaming business Cable service (service Provider Perspective)

The services are totally driven by the internet. Hence, internet outrage for even few hours impacts the customer footfall

List of Choices

Create a shop solution that should provide an ability to chose either of the service streaming or cable network and a premium suite should be a blend of the two.
I would like eliminate broadcasting service from my list as it involves high cost and poor user experience and difficult in execution as we need to maintain our own stations in that case
Users should get an ability to watch movies and channels without any additional devices that will simplify the usage and reduce the cost. Instead of using separate device like firestick we can bring web base technology that can integrate the smart phone with TV to watch direct streaming content.
Even if the content can be streamed in cell phone the user should be able to access in TV with an integrated phone
we can provide the users flexibility to watch the streaming content per family based on packages. Assuming one family might use maximum 2 TV at home or one mobile per member . The subscription package can be designed based on number of devices and yearly or quaterly basis
We can provide Google premium services embedded in the package like you tube. Ability to download the content that can be saved for a specific time then automatically archived and cloud space to save that content
Online gaming feature can be embedded that is controlled by body simulation of the player
VR streaming is another unique value proposition that can be added by the google
Ofcource the quality should be maintained so that least of maintainance is needed
Ads can be embedded in streaming service that can be restricted with paid subscription.
Channels and content watched can be charged based the usage

Evaluation

I would like to recommend that Google should enter in the TV service market as there are ample opportunities mentioned above that will provide better user experience, generate revenue through subscription model along with ads and a large user base will access to the quality content. The competitors landscape is the there but again we can derive our USPs based on the above choices and grab the market. The streaming market is still at nascent stage and broadcasting along with only cable service should eradicated from the market. Eventually this can also open the gates to compete with the multiplex with new strategies

@bijan Can you please share your feedback. I have joined the PM exercise recently and have been pratising using the site religiously. Your suggestion will help me to improve

Santhosh Kumar · Answer 3 · 2021-10-08T00:18:18+0000

Approach: I would do a SWOT framework to decide whether google should foray into launching a TV service or not.

Clarification questions:

Candidate: Are we trying to increase the value of the google ecosystem by serving additional use cases, and offer a better TV experience?

Interviewer: Yes

Candidate: Are we trying to maximize the long term free cash flow for the company?

Interviewer: Yes

SWOT analysis for the new product launch

Strength:

Youtube TV service will drive new user acquistion and user engagement: Customers that enjoy TV will join youtube community, growing the user base

Youtube TV service will increase the value of the Google ecosystem: We can serve additional customers needs using the suite of google products thereby increasing the value of the Google ecosystem. It will also create a downstream impact that will drive the adoption of ecosystem of google products.

Youtube TV service will offer create new revenue stream, boosting the top line for the company:

It will create a additional revenue stream for the company that can fund the moonshoot initiatives.

Weakness:

Youtube TV service might cannabilize the you-tube engagement: Customers that have signed up for You-tube TV would divide the between youtube and youtube tv service, thus it would cannibalize some portion of the youtube video consumtion.

However, still customers are within the google ecosystem.

ROI:

Building a TV service would require a material investments in technology and obtaining the broadcast rights from the networks. If google does not generate sufficent revenue to offset the cost, it will result in a loss.

We can experiment the service in some regions to begin with, to test out the market.

Opportunities:

TV watching experience is not personalized:

One of the least personalized forms of entertainment is TV watching. It does not account for genre perference, content preference of the inidividual. Rather users had to spend time and energy to discover the content and program that they enjoy.

With the wealth of information that google has, it can personalize the TV channels, to improve the delivery experience for the users.

Offer single sign-on and simplify the user experience:

One of the major painpoints for the customers is to remember myriad number of usernames and passwords for accessing various services such as gmail, facebook, sling tv etc.

Given billion plus customers already use you tube, google can create a single sign on experience, offering youtube tv and regular youtube service.

Offer feature to record programs and also notification feature:

Google can provide a option to customers that can record the unlimited amount of programs to watch later, and google can also provide notfication to customers about the live programs that customers would be interested in based on the search history, among others.

Threats:

Requires internet connectivity to watch youtube TV:

Since internet penetration is low in developing countries and also in the rurual areas of the developed countries, it would undermine the adoption of the youtube tv service in those areas.

Accordingly, we might want to build this service for the western countryies to begin with and later expand to other regions.

Requires smart TV to watch Youtube TV service:

Low income communiites would have access to only entry level hardware tv devices, thus they would lack the smart tv capabilities that are key to consume the Youtube TV service.

We might want to partner with OEMs to offer the bundle service (TV set and youtube TV service) at a lower cost.

Conclusion:

Based on the overall analysis, I see that this service has great potential help to increase the value of google ecosystem and google can take risk mitigation measures to address the weekness and threats. Hence I recommed launching the youtube TV service.