In an effort to provide you with a more varied experience than one centered around apps, Google TV strives to be among the top providers of classic live TV programming. You’re probably familiar with the Live tab, but have you ever utilized it because you don’t have a subscription to any of the supported services? When Google updates the interface and adds hundreds of free channels, you might want to give it another look shortly.
Google revealed on its blog that it is updating the Live tab to provide better organization and to display all of your live channel services, even the more expensive ones like YouTube TV or Sling TV.
You ought to be able to develop a sense of the screenshots used to illustrate this post should help you get a sense of the new experience since Google has included a sidebar with your favorite categories, services, and other items. This re-org is essential to preventing it from becoming a tiresome jumble of shows, movies, and other material because Google is introducing support for multiple new free services and wants to maintain premium live TV in this area.
For Chromecast with Google TV devices (purchase) and Google TV-enabled TVs, the new Live tab will start to roll out. You’ll receive an upgrade for Android TV devices like SHIELD TV (purchase) “later this year.”