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Google Announces Online Video Store

The Google Video Store will include prime-time shows from CBS as well as NBA games

Google announced at the 2006 Consumer Electronics Show plans to open the Google Video Store, an open video marketplace that will enable customers to buy and rent video content from various television networks, a professional sports league, cable programs as well as independent producers and film makers.

Google Video Store will include popular prime-time and classic hits from CBS, a full slate of this seasons' NBA games as well as all-time memorable games, music videos from (the controversial) Sony BMG, Charlie Rose interviews as well as news and historical content from ITN.

"Google video will let you watch lots of high quality video on the web for the first time. You can search and browse, and we make it fast and easy for you to watch," said Larry Page, Google's co-founder and president, Products.

"For video producers and anyone with a video camera, Google Video will give you a platform to publish to the entire Google audience in a fast, free and seamless way."

The Google Video Store will be available via Google's Video webpage, where visitors will be able to browse listings of video by category or search them using keywords.

"This is yet another exciting platform in which CBS can leverage its market-leading content to a whole new audience," said Leslie Moonves, President and CEO, CBS Corporation.

"Making our programming accessible to the Google Video Store guarantees our shows significant new exposure to millions of users who are likely to access this Web service and who may not be traditional TV viewers. As the industry's most prolific generator of popular TV content, it's only natural that CBS would partner with Google on this service, which is destined to become one of the web's most popular destinations."

CBS's current primetime hits will include CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, NCIS, Survivor and The Amazing Race. Library classics will include I Love Lucy, The Brady Bunch, The Twilight Zone, MacGyver, Have Gun Will Travel, Mannix, My Three Sons, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager. All CBS programs will be presented commercial free.

Google Video will also feature NBA games from this season and some of the greatest individual performances in NBA history. Marking the first time NBA fans can purchase full NBA contests on the Web, each NBA game for the rest of this season, including the NBA Playoffs and The Finals, will be available to fans in its entirety 24 hours after the contest's conclusion. In addition, the highest scoring games of several of the NBA's best players will be available including Kobe Bryant's 62 point performance in three quarters vs. Dallas last month.

"Google's innovative presentation of information and content is revolutionizing the way people access media," said NBA Commissioner David Stern.

"In the increasingly competitive and rapidly changing world of entertainment, Google Video provides us with a new way to deliver the NBA experience to our fans when and how they want it."

Additional highlights of Google's video collection

Music videos from SONY BMG. The line-up of launch videos includes offerings from some of SONY BMG's global superstar artists, including Christina Aguilera, Beyonce, Kenny Chesney, Destiny's Child, Kelly Clarkson, Alicia Keys, Lil' Flip, Jessica Simpson, Shakira, System of a Down, Switchfoot, Usher, and many more.

Feature Length Independent Films from Greencine.com. Including works by legendary Polish director Andrzej Wajda (Zemsta), documentary filmmaker Ted Bonnitt (Mau Mau Sex Sex) and independent actor/director Caveh Zahedi (In the Bathtub of the World).

Historic, news and educational footage from ITN. This material ranges from coverage of key events in 2005 such as the Pope John Paul II's death, back to a recording of the 1896 coronation of Tsar Nicholas II - one of the earliest known pieces of moving imagery.

Charlie Rose interviews. Including interviews with Henry Kissinger, Oliver Stone, Quentin Tarantino, Martha Stewart, Martin Scorsese, Harrison Ford, Dan Rather, Charles M. Schulz, Steve Jobs, Jay Leno, Tom Brokaw, and others.

Cartoon classics from Classic Media. Featuring many of the world's most famous animated series such as "Felix the Cat," "Casper The Friendly Ghost," and "Rocky and Bullwinkle."

Children's educational programming from Clearvue. Educational video topics vary from teen education on tattoos to explanations about the workings of the human brain.

Cartoon classics from Classic Media and children's educational programming from Clearvue. Google Video also offers many of the world's most famous animated series such as "Felix the Cat," "Casper The Friendly Ghost," and "Rocky and Bullwinkle." Educational video topics from Clearvue vary from teen education on tattoos to explanations about the workings of the human brain.

Clips from Getty Images' Archive Films Collection. A diverse collection of short clips that capture personalities, moments and eras throughout history - selected from vintage newsreels and educational film, as well as contemporary news and events from around the world.

Google expects to have thousands of titles for sale in the forthcoming Google Video Store from a "broad range of entertainment and educational partners" such as Blue Highways TV, CareTALK, Fashion TV, Here! TV, HDNet, Hilarious Picks, Image Entertainment, iWatchNow.com, Kantola Productions, MediaZone, Plum TV, Porchlight Entertainment, SOFA Entertainment, Teen Kids, Trinity Broadcasting Network,. WGBH, Wheels TV and Wilderness Film India Ltd.

Google also said that iPod and Sony PlayStation Portable users will also be able to download and watch any non-copy-protected content from Google Video, and even get it specially optimized for playback on their devices. Google Video Store will be available throughout the world, however purchasing premium content in the Google Video Store will only be available in the US.