TV Guide will launch its Online Video Guide on Tuesday, a search service focused on Internet video that is related to television programs.
TV Guide To Launch Video Search Tool
Paul Greenberg, GM of TV Guide Online, told Reuters that searching for video of TV shows on Google or Yahoo leads to too many choices. The new search service will direct users to free episodes available at the networks Web sites and to other professionally created content related to the show.
Greenberg said that the Online Video Guide will fill a niche that Google and YouTube are not because they are not strictly TV-focused. He pointed out that 70 percent of YouTube users are searching for professional content and not user-generated content that the site is known for.
TV Guide’s Online Video Guide will direct a large amount of traffic to network Web sites but it does not receive any revenue for the traffic it generates. “We’re talking to content holders in order to cut deals for a small slice of the advertising revenue,” Greenberg said.
Users of the Online Video Guide will be able to specify that they are searching only for free content and avoid being directed to iTunes or Amazon’s Unbox.
“Part of the way we’re marketing this is, ‘Oh, you forgot to set your TiVo? Here’s the show you missed, for free,’ ” Greenberg said.
