These then connect to the internet and allow TVs to stream online content such as YouTube videos. Google Chromecast is known in the industry as an over-the-top [OTT] play that supplants traditional TV advertising models. According to the Commercial Economic Advisory Service of Australia [CEASA], the national television market is worth $4 billion. Chromecast has been hugely popular in the US and other markets where content providers like Netflix and live sports providers like Major League Baseball have signed up to host their products on the Chromecast platform. But the Australian service will be much more limited with the ABC's iView platform, media rental service Quickflix and Foxtel's fledging movie service Presto as its initial offering. While Google has discussed the service with local content rights owners such as Telstra and commercial TV stations, it is understood there are no imminent plans for Chromecast offerings from those players.

Google's Play store will also offer its movie and TV show purchase service for users of the device. Google vice president of product management Mario Queiroz said the product had been hugely popular overseas but he refused to provide any measurable forecasts of its success in Australia. "We expect it to be a top seller ... but we're not quoting any sales figures," he said. "By launching the product in Australia we have enough content that enough consumers are going to be buying just as they have in other countries. Every day there'll be new content available to consumers. "Partners are going to say 'oh, now we have more TVs that are connected to the web so I can very easily update my mobile apps to work with Chromecast.'"

Informa Telecoms & Media senior analyst Tony Brown said the key to Chromecast's success was to offer large amounts of premium content at low prices. "You'd want a more impressive launch pad then that," he said. "Foxtel Presto is too expensive, you can already get iView and Quickflix is nothing earth-shattering. "There's nothing there that will drive fast adoption and it's lacking a bit of magic." Where platforms like Netflix offered unlimited downloads of popular movies like Her and shows like House of Cards for $8.99 per month, Google Play streams movies from $6 per view and TV episodes of the same show for $2.99 each. "If people aren't getting an all-you-can-eat service for under $10 they'll feel like they're being ripped off," he said. "Live sports is the holy grail of OTT ... and that's the trump card Foxtel and TV stations still hold."

Foxtel Presto and VOD director Shaun James said the company had no plans to put any other Foxtel content onto Chromecast. Loading He was also keen to state that Google's offering would not detract from Foxtel's overall offering of live sports and local TV shows. "We see the primary Foxtel customer and the Foxtel offering as being very, very different to what's on offer today," he said. "Not everyone carries every single piece of content [and] it's not uncommon behaviour where people flick between various devices."