IP Democracy: Google to Revolutionize TV with Pop Idol's Fuller? Nah.

The Guardian has this juicy item about how Google is in "secret" talks with British entrepreneur Simon Fuller (whose golden touch has turned the Spice Girls, Pop Idol and American Idol each into multi-billion dollar franchises) to collaborate on some kind of Internet video venture that competes with traditional television. Sources close to Fuller say it "could revolutionise the way entertainment and music are distributed," on par with what Apple did to the music business.

Clearly Fuller's people are getting high on the possibilities of whatever it is. (Interactive online American Idol? Contestants vying for "Idol" status via user-generated videos? One big honking pop-music-social-media-video site that integrates every Web 2.0 gizmo available?)

But I agree with the always level-headed Mathew Ingram. Google may be talking to Fuller's people about distributing original content via YouTube or creating a video destination that houses the video catalog of Fuller's empire.

I don't think, however, that whatever is under discussion will revolutionize the way entertainment and music are distributed on the Internet. It's just that whenever Google comes calling these days, it's so exciting that the possibilities seem endless. That much wealth, power and rock-star status combined with what has to be the world's largest concentration of genius-level employees is enough to make any partner breathless.

Update: Oh yeah, another dishy rumor: Google is eyeing the acquisition of woebegone mobile carrier Sprint. Something tells me that Google is probably talking to lots of people about lots of things. But it makes much more sense to me that Google would play around with content production than it would buy into the grubby, demanding and, these days, highly competitive business of operating communications networks.

Posted by Cynthia Brumfield on November 12, 2007 10:16 AM to IP Democracy