Amazon and Netflix offer television episode streaming, and Facebook is working with both Hulu and Netflix to integrate their video offerings with the social network. Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo offer Hulu and other television content through their respective gaming consoles, the Xbox 360, the PlayStation 3, and the Wii.

Cable and telephone companies are also moving television online with services such as and . Meanwhile, content creators for several years have been offering content online for free or by subscription including the four major broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC), , , and Major League Baseball.

At the moment, it's not clear if Google's attempt to get into the cable television business will work. But the bigger question is whether the search giant will do anything original to set its offerings apart from major cable providers such as Comcast, Time Warner, and Cox.

Will Google offer its cable service for free and hope to make its money solely through advertising and other business deals, similar to its approach with search and the Android mobile operating system? The cable business is ripe for a revolution thanks to overpriced television packages and antiquated customer service that requires you to wait at home for four hours so a technician can come over and plug a set-top box into your wall.