The OP wants to be able to view a movie bought on Google Play movies on a large screen TV, and was hoping that he could play it on TV by connecting the Nexus 7 to it.
To the OP: You can play any of your Google Play Movies directly on your computer. So if you wanted to watch it on a big screen, all you need to do is hook up your computer via HDMI to your TV, go to play.google.com/movies, select your movie, and click Play. You can then expand it to full screen. Not sure about HD content, though.
I think people often lose sight of the fact that the Nexus 7 is a sub-$200 device that already packs a huge punch, and was originally intended to be a budget-friendly device, not a do-everything ultramachine. If Google/Asus loaded more things in it like microHDMI out, SD support, and rear-facing cameras, we'd be looking at a device that is closer to $300, and therefore not as phenomenal of a value.
Thanks B. At home my AV kit is all "smart" so I couldn't visualise a scenario where I'd have content on the N7, but not on the rest. And if that was the case, I'd DLNA it over anyway, or copy it to my laptop, which does have HDMI out.
However, on a similar post, someone has pointed out that the 7" N7 format sits nicely between the phone and a laptop, and might be taken away when the laptop would be left at home. So, hotel TV with HDMI in, yes, I could see that.
I did seriously consider the 64Gb BB Playbook which is incredibly cheap over here and has HDMI out and better on-board audio. But the screen wasn't as good and as I don't have one of their phones, I had no use for the sync'ing, and just didn't want to have to learn a new OS, even ignoring BB10 coming out, which may/may not save them.
So, yes, I can see a use on the N7 and might have been ready to spend, say, ?25 more to get it. But its lack is just not a deal-breaker for me. Other folks MMV.