The Wall Street Journal’s Kevin Delaney had this piece yesterday (a free feature) on how Google is wooing Hollywood studios and other content producers. The search giant’s $900 million deal with News Corp. and its pact to distribute Viacom content are the result of Google’s effort to staff up with industry veterans.
In particular, Delaney profiles new Google employee David Eun, a Time Warner and NBC executive who has helped spearhead negotiations to bring Google closer to the video content community. CEO Eric Schmidt is refreshingly honest in how describes the benefits of hiring entertainment insiders such as Eun:
Now “we can approach them (the media and entertainment firms) in a way that we can actually do business together and not screw things up,” said Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt at a press conference Wednesday.
In the relatively tight-knit traditional media and entertainment businesses, it’s important to connect with someone who is known to be “one of us,” a lesson that Google has absorbed relatively quickly.
Google “didn’t show proper respect for us as potential partners,” said Larry Kramer, president of digital media at CBS, last year. (CBS in January announced a deal to distribute episodes of several shows, including “CSI” and “Survivor,” through Google Video. “We’re quite happy with them,” Mr. Kramer says now. “They have more people who have taken more time to understand the business of their partners.”)
Cynthia Brumfield at 1:06 PM|Comments(0)
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