[Google Chromecast] Asphyx:
Truth is Google doesn't need to be supported by the studios it only needs to be supported by the companies that TRANSMIT the content that is available. If Netflix supports Chromecast then the Studio can't then say no you can't stream that to Chromecast. Netflix would never agree to that deal which means the Studios would have to cut off a significant revenue stream they have now just to spite Google and lose Netflix as a client at the same time. Since Hulu and Netflix are both supporting Chromecast Google's hands are not tied at all. The worst the studios can do is not DIRECTLY support Chromecast in their own distribution networks. SO maybe the NBC App doesn't support Chromecast, or if Sony decides to make their own Movie Portal it won't. But they would be hurting themselves by losing Revenue more than they would be hurting Google which is creating a device that allows more people to see and buy Studio content than can do it right now.

The only reason why the studios were able to influence the WINNER of HDDVD and BluRay was because THEY CONTROLLED THE DISTRIBUTION! No one else had a contract to make Discs of their content! So whatever format they chose to release under won. They were not behind the 8 ball like they were with VHS. In the VHS vs Beta the worst format won out because the Porn Companies decided to release on VHS instead of Beta.

I agree but never underestimate the stupidity of a content provider to shoot themselves in the foot! Look at what the networks are doing to the Cable companies these days and extorting big Sub Payments by bundling. They allow their signal to be pulled to get a better price on 10% of their revenue and lose a ton of money in ratings on the other 90% of their advertising business! If a cable company refused to bow down to the pressure when these Per Sub battles happened and kept the network off their system, The networks would soon learn that they had lost 500M in Advertising dollars for the benefit of making an extra 50Mil on subscription fees.

This is why I say whitelisting isn't going to accomplish the goals of the Studios. They could limit the Apps available in the Market but as long as one App is allowed to stream local they will all be able to do it at some point.

If Plex support comes then thats all you need. It will be easy to send content to it as a DLNA player target, and it would not surprise me to see someone make a screen mirror app that merely sends Video and Audio to ANY DLNA player on the network.

Comcast, Verizon, Time Warner even AT&T are all in the same business these days. They are as much an INTERNET company as anything else.

The only way the studios will have the kind of control they want is if they create their own distribution portal and if they do that they lose all those LUMP SUM payments from the companies that already do the distribution for them now.

Why would Netflix pay them to have content you can get elsewhere?

Why would the Cable Companies pay them sub fees and not just move to a PPV system where they markup whatever the studio is charging for a stream?

Content is KING but without the Distribution you can't monetize that content.

So unless the Studios control every distribution system that exists they really have little control in the way people think they do.

When companies like Sony start buying up TV networks and things like Netflix (or start their own) then they might have the power to influence the technology we use to view that content of theirs.