The wide-ranging and widely-expected Google-CBS deal, supposed to have been announced at CES last month, is dead for now, reports WSJ in a long and detailed story on Google’s difficulties on working with TV networks and other media companies.
The story details two specific deals and how they unraveled: the Google-CBS one above and then Google-Viacom one, which broke down late last year.
—On Google-CBS: The deal was supposed to include CBS clips and shows on YouTube, ad rev-share and then Google would sell inventory from CBS Radio.  Under the deal, Google would have guaranteed ad revenue of more than $500 million for CBS. Google wanted a five-year deal, while CBS wanted a shorter one..also, some CBS division heads were reluctant to sign off on a deal. The two may still work on smaller deals, though.
—On Google-Viacom: Last year, at the beginning of these talks, CEO Eric Schmidt floated the idea that Google might be willing to guarantee as much as $500 million in ad revenue over several years to license Viacom’s video…Google would pay Viacom about 70% of any ad revenue generated by Google from Viacom’s videos…but Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman wanted to talk about control of advertising sales and technical matters before negotiating about money, the story says. The two mutually balked at each others proposals.
—Google-NBC: Last week, the general counsel of NBC sent Google a six-page letter demanding that it keep unauthorized content off the site, the story says.
Related:
—Speculation Continues On CBS-Google Media Auction
—Google’s Deal With CBS Radio Still Likely; TV Deal Unlikely
—Google In Negotiations With CBS On Selling Radio/TV Inventory
—Viacom Circumvents YouTube, Making MTV Networks’ Video Available To All Others
—dMarc Founders No Longer At Google
—Viacom Demands That Google Pull More Than 100,000 Clips From YouTube; Site Is Complying