Key Takeaways
- Google TV released a “best of 2024” list featuring top movies, shows, and staff picks.
- “Road House” and “Shogun” were the most-watched movie and show, while Ion was the top free live channel.
- The Google TV Streamer is now in stock after delays and is priced at $100.
Google TV is one of the most popular streaming devices and platforms out there, and its screens grace tons of TVs and devices. While we do feel like there are stronger solutions out there, like Apple TV, Google TV stands as one of the most open streaming platforms there are. Of course, while it stands to gain a lot if it borrows a few features from Apple’s tvOS, the fact that you can sideload any Google TV application to it (a feature also seen on Amazon Fire TV devices), there’s no questioning its reach. With the year winding down, Google has released “best of” recaps across some of its app offerings, and for the first time since Google TV launched, the company wants to celebrate some of its greatest hits on the platform.
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It’s just in time for the holidays
Google released its “Best of 2024” list for Google TV with a few of the most-watched movies and shows as well as the staff’s choices for their favorite picks of the year. The 2024 remake of “Road House,” starring Jake Gyllenhaal as an ex-UFC fighter, was the most-watched movie on Google TV, while the FX and Hulu show, “Shogun,” was the most-watched TV show and probably a much better use of your time than “Road House” if general reviews are taken into account. Additionally, Google TV staff picked two movies (the Zendaya-led “Challengers” and Timothee Chalamet-led “Dune: Part Two”) and one TV show (the Jean Smart-led “Hacks”) for their picks of the year. Finally, Google TV named Ion as the most-watched free live channel of 2024.
Google’s world of recaps
Google’s other recaps in recent days have revolved around its other multimedia platforms. YouTube’s Gaming Recap shows off your top creators and games of 2024, giving you a chance to reminisce over your January obsessions one last time. YouTube Music’s 2024 recap is practically a ripoff of Spotify Wrapped, but we’re okay with that. Lastly, for anyone frequenting Google Play for new apps and games, the platform’s annual best apps and games list gives them another chance to find some of the most exciting downloads they may have missed.
All the excitement and hoopla over these shows and movies means nothing if you don’t have a device to watch them on. While Google TV has existed for a long time as a Chromecast-like device, to compete with the Apple TV and Fire TV Cube as a set-top box, Google released the Google TV Streamer to stores in September. It’s basically a souped up Chromecast with more power under the hood, although it’s not enough power for the $100 bill you have to pay for it. If you weren’t one of the people that got their hands on the shelf-flier two months ago, the Streamer is now back in stock after numerous delays. We’ve got some opinions on five Google TV Streamer settings to change on day one.
