Google is reportedly stepping up its online cable television initiatives in a move that could potentially have big implications for how marketers connect with consumers across multiple screens.

The company has not made any statements regarding cable television, but it has been meeting with major media companies that own cable channels, according to an article in The New York Times. If Google does end up providing cable TV via the Internet, this could help make mobile TV commonplace.

?Mobile applications usually follow the launching of video services, so it is difficult to speculate given that the service is still at a very early stage in the process,? said Jesse Chiang, media and information industry analyst with IBISWorld, Santa Monica, CA.

?If Google does enter this market and launches a mobile application, it presents considerable competition to other mobile applications,? he said. ?Google has a strong, valuable brand and certainly has the capital to back this investment.?

Google did not respond to press inquiries.

Stream on mobile
According to IBISWorld, the number of cable TV subscriptions has declined at an average annual rate of 0.3 percent in the past five years, showing how consumers are increasingly swapping out their TV sets for digital devices.

Companies such as Intel, Sony and Microsoft have already shown interest in creating an over-the-top service similar to what Google is reportedly developing, but the companies are having difficulty getting support from channel owners.

If Google were to enter the race, this might change the arena since Google carries such a powerful brand name.

Yet, Jason Blackwell, director of service provider strategies at Strategy Analytics, Scottsdale, AZ, is not sure that Google?s name will be enough.

Television is a much different area for Google from its previous efforts, and the company will have to develop a significantly more compelling service that is not already available to win over consumers.

?Consumers have shown a great deal of interest in Google?s high-speed Internet services in the areas where they have rolled that out,? Mr. Blackwell said. ?So, consumers are not unwilling to break from the traditional operator and move to something else, if there is a clear value or improvement for them.

?However, TV is a much different product than just a broadband service,? he said. ?Consumers have an expectation of content availability as well as a high expectation for quality of service from a TV service provider.

?Google will only succeed with an Internet TV service if they can offer the same amount of choices and quality but packaged in a better and more appealing way.?

According to Mr. Blackwell, Google still has a lot of issues to work out before it can provide a cable TV product, most notably with content rights.

Standing out
Unsurprisingly, Apple is one of Google?s biggest threats in cable TV.

However, experts say that there are some major differences between how the two companies might approach cable TV.

For example, Apple would most likely work within the current framework of cable TV and partner with existing distributers.

Google, on the other hand, might be experimenting with offering a library of TV shows, similar to Netflix and Hulu.

This a la carte program is especially significant for mobile TV with users that have an affinity for short, snackable content on smartphones and tablets.

?I think that the real disruption happens when consumers can get much more modular in terms of their subscriptions as well as have the tools to change their subscriptions on a monthly basis,? said Sam Rosen, practice director at ABI Research, Oyster Bay, NY.

?But that?s clearly not in the interest of the cable providers, so I would expect it to be another three to five years before consumers really have that a la carte freedom,? he said.

Advertising implications
There are also some interesting mobile implications for advertisers with Google?s reported cable TV since it would open up a completely new platform for marketers.

Advertisers would be able to take a traditional television ad and cater it to a smaller device.

Nowadays, smartphones and tablets are more connected to consumers than TV sets, so advertisers will be able to reach audiences on a new, more personal level.

These new connected TV mobile experiences would likely not look different from the types of TV Everywhere initiatives being used today, but what Google would bring to the table is a more seamless user experience that syncs up live programming, catch-up TV, video on demand and movies, per Mr Rosen.

?From a mobile perspective, I think we?ve already started to see television everywhere playing out where the program has more of a direct relationship with a consumer,? Mr. Rosen said.

?Specifically on a mobile device, you have an app published by a cable program that brings their content together,? he said.

?All of these Internet companies, their goal is really to innovate around the experience of TV, and it?s clear to me that that would include bringing together the first screen experience with the mobile experience in a mobile way.?

Final Take
Rebecca Borison is editorial assistant on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York