TV viewers don’t even need a cable to get “cable” anymore thanks to companies like DirecTV (NASDAQ: DTV), and can even watch their favorite shows online. If Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) has its way the television revolution is just beginning – and the future will be its Google TV technology that will be unveiled this fall.

Google TV is unlike other Internet television products and services, as it isn’t a devoted set-top box or website like Hulu. It’s simply a software service that allows viewers to search through programming from cable, satellite and Web providers. Of course it also lets viewers browse Web pages on their television — not a new feature nor a surprising one, but a function Google aims to streamline and make more than just a gimmick.

But there are some serious snags with this high-tech television revolution. First, Google is only in charge of the software and needs third parties to get on board with building the hardware.  Logitech (NASDAQ: LOGI) and Sony (NYSE: SNE) are both shipping set top boxes sporting Google TV this fall to test the market – but you can bet they won’t hang on for long if they don’t see profits materialize.

Even more challenging for Google is that television’s major players aren’t on board. And who could blame them? Time Warner (NYSE: TWX), Comcast (NYSE: CMCSA), and every other cable provider in the country has had to transform from a classically-styled broadcast platform to an on demand portal in the post-TiVo (NASDAQ: TIVO) and post-YouTube world.  Playing nice with Google would be like admitting that the industry has outlived its life cycle and is destined to become obsolete.

Given the trouble, Google Inc. is convincing major television networks to support Google TV. True Internet television might not be ready for primetime just yet. According to a Wall Street Journal report, Google has met with News Corp. (NASDAQ: NWS) and Fox, Disney (NYSE: DIS) and ABC, General Electric (NYSE: GE) and NBC, CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS), cable network owner Viacom (NYSE: VIA) and executives from all over the TV world. But no network will join Google TV until they know Web-based services will not sap customers from their conventional revenue channels through broadcast television. What’s more, a big move of viewership to streaming online content that doesn’t have as many commercials means less revenue for broadcasters — even if that content is on NBC.com instead of a viewer’s local NBC affiliate.

Another concern is that, unlike other services like Apple Inc (NASDAQ: APPL) software including iTunes and Apple TV, Google TV wouldn’t restrict options to specified services – meaning a lack of a copyright bottleneck. If Google TV is as versatile a Web tool as Google’s other products, it would be all too easy for viewers with Google TV-enabled set-top box to skip paying for premium cable and satellite services altogether and just watch popular shows illegally through pirated videos.

That’s one rough road ahead for Google. But the technology giant successfully broke into a crowded mobile phone market with its Android operating system and seems determined to redefine television as well. What’s more, the $70 billion TV advertising market is natural for a company that is the 800 pound gorilla of online advertising.

As of now, though it looks like Google TV may not reach its full potential when it hits the market via a fall 2010 launch. But it could very well see the technology explode in the years afterward.

Of course, Google TV may just be the latest in a serious of flops that have followed the 1996 launch of WebTV. And word is that Google’s aggressive pursuit of launching Google TV by fall 2010 has content holders discussing whether or not it’s time to block their Web video from playing on any set-top boxes – killing the technology not just for Google but for anyone else.

The Internet may be the inevitable future of television, but Google has a tall order proving that future is now.

As of this writing, Anthony Agnello did not own a position in any of the stocks named here.

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