Google is to launch its web-TV service in the UK within the next six months, according to reports. The launch was confirmed by CEO Eric Schmidt speaking at the Edinburgh International TV Festival.

Schmidt said Google TV did not threaten broadcasters and would enable them to experiment with new formats online. He defended the company’s contribution to the TV industry, pointing out that it had invested billions of dollars in IT infrastructure that media companies use.

Google also announced it would fund a new course in online production and distribution at the National Film & Television School in London for three years.

Google launched the web-TV service in the US earlier this year, but it has failed to recruit high-end content for the service, with US TV networks including ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC Universal, and MTV owner Viacom blocking Google TV devices from streaming content from their networks. The broadcasters are wary of handing market power to Google and they are suspicious of what they see as its low regard for intellectual property rights. Several of them have been in litigation with Google subsidiary YouTube over the abuse of content rights.

The company was also forced to delay the launch of a line of Google TV-enabled sets due to issues hardware issues.

Schmidt give the MagTaggart lecture in Edinburgh – you can see it streamed on YouTube.

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