Google has quietly
announced that they have started to index (allowing you to
search) previously aired content from some of the major TV networks. They aren't actually indexing the video, but rather the closed captioning text of the videos. So you can just type in your search terms (like
apprentice) or you can get more specific (like
title:family guy). The results won't provide any direct links to the actual video, but will give the transcript, still images of the show, and a link to get more info (including future air times). Right now the content is still pretty limited. Right now they are only indexing content from a few networks, namely
PBS,
C-Span,
FoxNews,
ABC, etc... and mainly only the San Fransico Bay area stations. They started indexing back in December 2004, and say they will be adding more networks soon. This looks like it could be great!