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Tag: Eric Schmidt

  • Eric Schmidt’s TomorrowVentures invests in Relativity Media

    Eric Schmidt’s TomorrowVentures invests in Relativity Media

    MUMBAI: Eric Schmidt’s TomorrowVentures, LLC is planning to invest in Relativity Media.

     

    Separately, TomorrowVentures managing partner Court Coursey has been appointed chief investment & strategy officer of Relativity Media, effective immediately, to develop and execute Relativity’s ongoing vision as a next-generation global media company. Coursey will continue his position at TomorrowVentures.

     

    Coursey, a veteran business executive, entrepreneur and venture capitalist, will report directly to Relativity Media chairman and CEO Ryan Kavanaugh and will work to pursue and drive new business opportunities and partnerships across Relativity’s content businesses, including film, television, sports, digital and music.

     

    Kavanaugh said, “Court is a proven business leader and entrepreneur with deep knowledge of the forces shaping media, technology and entertainment. I’m thrilled to welcome him to Relativity as we prepare for the next chapter in our evolution as a 360-degree content engine.”

     

    Coursey added, “Relativity and Ryan have pioneered a powerful new model at a time when the content business is being revolutionized by technology and changing consumer behavior. I look forward to helping Relativity continue to pursue its vision for a new kind of media and content company.”

     

    TomorrowVentures is a diversified venture capital firm and has a portfolio of over 100 direct investments and in excess of 1,500 indirect investments through its general partner and limited partner stakes.

     

    TomorrowVentures’ other media investments have included, among others, Legendary Pictures, Maker Studios, and Raine.

     

    Relativity Studios recently announced 2016 release dates for the following films: The Disappointments Room, Before I Wake, Kidnap, Masterminds and Strangers 2. In addition, the studio is scheduled to begin production on The Crow in March of this year.

     

    In another development, Relativity Media has also appointed Kenneth Halsband as chief operating officer. Halsband is currently Relativity Studios president of physical and post production at Relativity Studios and the post will be in addition to his current responsibilities.

  • Google, Bing join hands to eliminate illicit searches

    Google, Bing join hands to eliminate illicit searches

    MUMABI: While the availability of information online has turned out to be a blessing for almost everybody, it is also disturbing for parents who fear their kids getting exposed to unwanted data. Coming to their rescue are two of the world’s leading search engines — Google and Bing, who will jointly handle the menace of illicit searches made by under age kids on the cyber space.

     

    Now about 100,000 search keywords are going to be listed as illegal words. Moreover, someone searching for those keywords will not only be prohibited from viewing the search results but also be informed that his or her search is illegal. Soon, the strategy will be extended to 150 languages on global scale to make a huge difference.

     

    According to Google CEO Eric Schmidt, child sexual exploitation can be eliminated by terminating such keyword searches.

     

    The parent company of Bing, Microsoft has also stated that they have had zero-tolerance policy for any such material but now they are going to make it stricter.

     

    UK’s National Crime Agency and Internet Watch Foundation will help the internet giants in this initiative.   

  • YouTube says TV is passe; announces 1 bn unique visitors per month

    YouTube says TV is passe; announces 1 bn unique visitors per month

    MUMBAI: For long, traditional linear TV professionals have been kind of pooh-poohing the emergence of YouTube as a challenge to their traditional business model and as the destination for video consumption. Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt however cautions TV executives that the TV vs YouTube – if ever there was one – is over and has conclusively swung in favour of the online streaming portal.

    Speaking to advertisers in New York on Wednesday night at an initiative titled NewFronts (digital media‘s version of the TV tradition of promoting programming and selling ads); he disclosed that YouTube was now crossing a billion visitors a month. Last month‘s figures from YouTube claimed that almost one of every two people on the World Wide Web now uses the video streaming site, making it the third largest country in the world behind China and India.

    Google executives at the event said that visitors are watching more than six billion hours of video content on YouTube every month. That‘s a humungous number, which equals to one hour a month for every human on earth. Just three months ago, the figure was four billion. Schmidt expects the figure to go up soon and told attendees to wait “till the numbers rise to six to seven billion. The future is now for YouTube,” he said.

    Executives point out that a good proportion of the visitors are those under forty – the connected to the internet generation; and that there is no better medium to reach out to them than YouTube.

    “I thought that YouTube was like TV, but it isn‘t. I was wrong,” said YouTube‘s global head of content Robert Kyncl, “TV is one-way. YouTube talks back. TV means reach. YouTube means engagement.” He further added.

    Schmidt explained that YouTube is not a replacement for something we know. “It‘s a new thing that we have to think about, to program, to curate and build new platforms,” he pointed out.

    DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg made an appearance at the event to announce that his company had earlier in the day signed a deal to acquire AwesomenessTV, a popular teen focused YouTube network, for $33 million.

    YouTube meanwhile brought in its troops to coax brands to snap up media on the site, put in sponsorship dollars behind it and build channels. They cited a study saying that brands “that invest about 10 per cent to 15 per cent of their media budget on YouTube post a one per cent to three per cent sales rise.

  • Legendary mops up $275 mn in new financing deal

    Legendary mops up $275 mn in new financing deal

    MUMBAI: Legendary Entertainment, co-producer of movies such as Dark Knight and Hangover, announced that it has completed separate equity and debt financing deals totaling approximately $275 million in aggregate proceeds.
    The equity component consists of $128 million in new financing from a collection of new and existing investors.
    Existing Legendary equity investors who participated in this round include Jim Breyer and Breyer Capital and Accel Partners, IDG Capital Partners, and Gordy Crawford. New investors in Legendary include Morgan Stanley Investment Management, Peter Thiel‘s Thiel Capital LLC, and Eric Schmidt‘s Tomorrow Ventures, LLC.
    Goldman, Sachs & Co. acted as sole agent to Legendary in the equity financing. Additionally, Legendary simultaneously closed a new $150 million round of debt financing structured and arranged by JPMorgan, Bank of America, Royal Bank of Canada and UBS who all served as co-leads. Goldman Sachs Lending Partners LLC also participated in the bank financing.
    Legendary will use the proceeds of these transactions to retire and refinance debt incurred in connection with its 2010 recapitalisation, more than 18 months prior to its scheduled maturity. Plans for the monies also include adding investment and working capital as Legendary readies projects across its filmed entertainment, publishing and television business units.
    Separately, Legendary East expects to announce its financial and distribution arrangements later this year. On December 31 2011, the date pre-arranged by Legendary and its partners, Legendary East allowed its previously contemplated business structure to lapse, enabling it to explore relationships with new distribution and financial partners.

  • Google in mood to buy more online display ad firms

    Google in mood to buy more online display ad firms

    MUMBAI: Google is planning to buy more companies to accelerate its presence in the sprawling online display ad sector.

    Speaking to a group of reporters at Cannes International festival of creativity, executive chairman Eric Schmidt said the giant would continue gobbling companies that specialised in managing display ads such as video and banners.

    The move will be a challenge for Facebook and comes even as European regulators examine Google‘s dominant web search position.

    Recently, Google announced its plans to buy AdMeld in a bid to capture a larger pie in the area of graphical display ads.

    We started off with mainly text ads, and now the display business has arrived, which can become a $10-20 billion business, Schmidt added.

    Google made approximately $29 billion in 2010 through its small ads that appear alongside the search results.

    But analysts feel that Google can be better-off, if it diversifies its business with products such as social networking. This can prevent advertisers moving over to social network sites such as Facebook.

    In 2011, Facebook will take over Yahoo to take the top position in online display, according to a report released earlier this week by research firm eMarketer.Consequently, Google is in a buying mood.

  • BBC to create 3 channels on YouTube

    BBC to create 3 channels on YouTube

    MUMBAI: Google’s YouTube may be facing the heat from the likes of Viacom on copy protection issues but the popularity of the online video network continues to grow. The British Broadcasting Corp. has struck a multi-year content deal with YouTube that will make programming available via three branded channels on the search giant’s video-sharing site.

    Three YouTube channels — one for news and two for entertainment — will carry content from BBC. BBC Worldwide will air promotional trailers for new programmes and clips from its old hit series on the website.

    The aim is to bring new audiences to the proposed BBC iPlayer service, and to secure commercial revenue via BBC Worldwide, its commercial subsidiary, to supplement the licence fee. 
    While the current deal includes its promotion of its non news programming, the publicly funded broadcaster also said that news clips will be added in the near future.

    From the BBC channel there will be content based on current hits such as Life on Mars and Doctor Who, while from BBC Worldwide there will be clips from old favorites such as Spooks and Top Gear, which are sold globally.

     
    The BBC Worldwide arm also plans to offer around 30 news items a day, though the advertising-funded news clips will not be available to users in Britain who pay the license fee that funds the BBC. The news channel will be launched later this year.

    The output will include specially created video diaries such as actor David Tennant taking viewers around the sets of Doctor Who and reporter Clive Myrie on the streets of the red zone of Baghdad.

    This would mirror the type of deal that YouTube has in place with US sports organisation NHL. Under the original deals the partners have used the platform for promotional purposes. Channel 4, for example, has a branded promotional channel plugging Ugly Betty.

    Several large broadcasters in the US have similar arrangements with YouTube including CBS, which claimed 200,000 extra viewers for The Late Show with David Letterman after clips from the show were posted on the video-sharing website.

     
    BBC Director-General Mark Thompson said: “This ground-breaking partnership between the BBC and YouTube is fantastic news for our audiences. YouTube is a key gateway through which to engage new audiences in the UK and abroad.

    “The partnership provides both a creative outlet for a range of short-form content from BBC programme makers and the opportunity to learn about new forms of audience behaviour. It’s essential that the BBC embraces new ways of reaching wider audiences with non-exclusive partnerships such as these.”

    Google CEO and Chairman Eric Schmidt said,”We’re delighted to be joining forces with the BBC to bring the best TV programming available to the YouTube community. We will continue to invest in our platforms and technologies to help our partners make the most of the enormous opportunities presented by the billion people now online.”

    YouTube CEO and Co-Founder Chad Hurley said, “We’re constantly looking for innovative ways to bring the best content to our community. The BBC is a premier source for quality programming, and we’re excited that they are leading the way in enabling two-way dialogue and real engagement with an entirely new audience. We hope to open up an entirely new audience for their content, while deepening their relationship with their existing viewers.”

  • NBA, YouTube challenge fans to post basketball moves

    NBA, YouTube challenge fans to post basketball moves

    MUMBAI: Video sharing site YouTube, Inc. and the National Basketball Association (NBA) have launched Post Up the NBA on the new NBA Channel on YouTube.

    The new channel will provide fans around the world and the entire YouTube community with the opportunity to submit video clips of their best basketball moves, and access original NBA content throughout the remainder of the 2006-07 NBA season.

    NBA fans are encouraged to upload their “best moves” to the site www.youtube.com/nba) and rate other videos posted by fans. The top Post Up the NBA videos submitted will be selected and compiled into a special weekly highlight reel “NBA Top 10 on YouTube” that will be featured on the “NBA Channel.

    YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley says, “By delivering a wide array of programming to YouTube, the NBA will be able to connect with its existing worldwide fan base and reach a vast new audience that is passionate about basketball”.

    Google CEO Eric Schmidt says, “The NBA consistently delivers some of the most exciting content in all of sports. We are thrilled to partner with the NBA to give them access to an amazing platform to further engage their fans around the world.”

    NBA commissioner David Stern says, “NBA fans will be able to interact and share their passion for the game by posting their ‘best moves,’. YouTube’s popularity and wide-reaching community of users provides the NBA with another unique way to reach our fans.”

    Along with providing fans an opportunity to post their best basketball moves, the NBA will post select plays and behind-the-scenes video highlights from NBA.com on the “NBA Channel” on YouTube.

    YouTube and the NBA have extended their partnership beyond video footage and community building. As part of the agreement, the NBA will join the growing number of content partners taking advantage of YouTube’s “Claim Your Content” program. This features a content identification and reporting system for user uploaded videos, allowing the league to identify its copyrighted content. The NBA will have the option to remove content from YouTube or share in the advertising revenue generated, if any.

    Google and the NBA are also currently conducting a test to syndicate NBA video content across Google’s AdSense network, adding to the growing list of content providers sharing engaging, relevant material with participating publishers. As part of this test publishers small and large, cutting across a variety of categories, will receive syndicated clips of NBA action.