tchart:
Sideload means downloading the APK (Android executable) file from the internet and installing it outside the Play Store. Not recommened! I only did it for Neon. If the services you mentioned are pretty popular they may already have support for Google TV.
VLC is great, and yes it plays content off my network (NAS). I think you can use Kodi but I didnt need anything fancy just something that would play media off the network.
Thought that's what was involved. Thanks for reply. Now to wait for the NZ release.