YouTube IPL deal and Internet TV trouble Sky Sports
In what is a huge development for sports fans around the world, YouTube has confirmed that it will be hosting live Indian Premier League cricket matches in the UK.
Crucially the deal means that the matches will be free, with YouTube, and its parent company Google, seeking to generate revenue through sponsorship and advertising.
This is coming at the start of a year when we expect a wave of new technology that will link the Internet to your TV. Dell has already released the Inspiron Zino HD, a mouse mat sized desktop with HDMI designed to fit snugly under your telly.
This is just one of many other products that will attempt to get you connecting your TV to the Internet. Boxee Box by D-link is another set-top product making its way to British shores following huge success in America.
Intel is getting in on the action with the launch of new wireless technology that will stream video and audio directly from your PC to an adapter that plugs into the HDMI port on your TV. These Intel WiDi chips will soon be released inside new Dell, Sony and Toshiba PCs. All you will have to do is spend around £100 on the adapter.
So it doesn’t take much to see how this TV deal between YouTube and the IPL may have a massive impact on the way sports are financed here in the UK.
Rupert Murdoch’s Sky Sports has enjoyed an almost complete monopoly on UK sporting events for around 20 years now. This is surely the biggest threat his company has ever faced?
It also comes on the back of his decision to begin erecting pay walls on his many news sites and blocking Google from deep linking into his sites.
It looks like the battle between Google and Rupert Murdoch is hotting up. IPL Cricket streamed in the middle of the working week may just be the beginning. If this works and Premier League Football is suddenly free to watch on the Internet it’s hard to see many people choosing to carry on paying monthly subscriptions to Sky. These certainly are interesting times.
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Written by John Hillman
John Hillman is the editor of PC Site and a writer/journalist who spends his days researching and writing about new technology, cybercrime and social media.
Wed, Jan 20, 2010