Google needs to unify it's operating systems under one umbrella. There's really no reason for them not not package all the features into android and having extra libraries loaded depending on what the device is.
I think google can see the writing on the wall. The smaller devs can innovate and do things that the bigger fish won't do. The tv market is saturated at the higher end and they need something to lower the cost. I suspect they want android people to do the hard work . They can offer frame work. Hopefully we get really smart tvs from this.