Gear

Of the eight different examples listed on the Google TV’s new channel spotlight page, ShortForm’s channel demonstrates the full potential of the search engine giant’s internet TV platform.

Last week, Google launched a new version of its Google TV software for streaming set-top boxes and smart TVs. Among the new features is the addition of new channels (a.k.a. web apps) of content from a variety of different media partners, such as NHL, Vevo, New York Times and Crackle.

But not all Google TV channels are created by media companies. For instance, ShortForm is actually a social network that lets users (called Video Jockeys or VJs) create and curate their own channels of content using video clips from YouTube, Vimeo and others — sort of like having your own version of Comedy Central’s Tosh.0.

The most popular VJ channels on ShortForm are then featured on the company’s Google TV channel.

“We designed the ShortForm Google TV web app for the 10-foot experience,” said ShortForm CEO Nader Ghaffari in an interview with VentureBeat. And by “10-foot experience” he means an experience that’s comparable to how you’d watch a regular television channel from a cable or satellite provider.

VJ channels are essentially just playlists of video clips. You don’t have to click the play button for each video to begin either, as the channel is intended to remain streaming until you direct it to stop. The interface is pretty simple and you can easily navigate between different videos and VJ channels with a basic remote control. If you don’t have a Google TV enabled set-top box or smart TV, you can check out ShortForm’s channel via Google’s Chrome web browser. You’ll need to substitute the arrows on your keyboard for the remote control.

One thing you won’t get through the Google TV web app are the social features available on ShortForm’s website. In August, the startup added the ability to let users watch channels concurrently as they’re curated by the VJ. Users can also communicate with each other via a chat room on the website. Ghaffari said these social feature’s aren’t available through the Google TV web app because it would take away from the 10-foot experience. You can, however, invite friends over to your house to watch the VJ channel on a big screen, which is a pretty fair trade-off.

The Google TV integration is part of ShortForm’s push to make the service available across multiple platforms. The company also recently launched a new features that allows anyone to embed VJ channel’s on a Facebook fan page or website. It’s actually pretty useful, especially if you have a YouTube channel full of original content that rarely sees traffic beyond the confines of YouTube itself or individual blog posts.

ShortForm has over a million monthly visits and more than 3,000 active VJ channels since launching to the public in 2010, according to Ghaffari. The San Francisco-based startup has raised a total of $1.3 million in funding from NetService Ventures, Individuals’ Venture Funds, Seraph Group and others.

Filed under: media, social, VentureBeat

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Television network CBS’ chief executive, Les Moonves, accidentally revealed details about an ad-supported Apple TV streaming video service, during the company’s quarterly earnings call Thursday.

In August, we reported on rumors that Apple was plotting its own streaming video service to compete with the likes of Netflix and Amazon. The service, called iTunes Replay, would make use of Apple’s recent advances into the cloud by allowing iTunes customers to stream movies from Apple’s servers and re-download them to other devices, (such as Apple’s $99 Apple TV set-top box). Apple was reportedly negotiating with several major movie studio for licensing agreements. So, it’s reasonable to presume that Apple was also discussing agreements with TV networks like CBS.

Moonves said the network turned down Apple’s proposal to bring CBS content to its new service because the deal involved splitting the advertising revenue over time. This type of deal is very similar to the agreements Hulu has with ABC, NBC and Fox. Moonves said CBS’ strategy is to obtain money from streaming media providers upfront in exchange for a licensing agreement, which is why you’ve never seen CBS shows on Hulu.

Until recently, CBS’ strategy meant it was missing out on lots of potential revenue. However, the network recently reached streaming agreements for its older TV content with both Netflix and Amazon, which guarantees CBS money upfront in exchange for the licensing. CBS also recently reached a similar agreement with several service providers for licensing rights to CW programs, which CBS jointly owns with Time Warner. Moonves said the network is receiving “hundreds of millions of dollars” from streaming media providers, such as Netflix, Amazon and Hulu.

As for the credibility of Moonves’ comments about the Apple TV ad-supported service, it wouldn’t be the first time he’s unintentionally revealed information during an earnings call. GigaOm’s Ryan Lawler points out that Moonves also leaked information about a CBS content licensing agreement with Netflix’s Latin American market a full month before Netflix officially announced its international expansion.

Obviously, we don’t know if Apple is still working on a streaming video service. If the service is ad-supported for television content, that would explain why the company is hesitant to add access to Hulu Plus on the Apple TV.

Filed under: media, VentureBeat