@ NCTA: Interview: Philippe Dauman, CEO, Viacom: ‘Some Models Sound Great, Don’t Work Well’
The Viacom (NYSE: VIA) booth is usually a swirl of activity at The Cable Show and this year was no exception—Dora The Explorer posing for photos, the Nick animators doing on the spot illustrations, CMT stars hugging and autographing, and RockBand taking it all to a new noise level as attendees hit the guitars, the drums—and even, unfortunately, the microphone. Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman doesn’t try to compete, heading up some metal stairs to a near-soundproof mini-conference room for a talk with paidContent. One of the walls sports an Iron Man poster. Next up, of course, is the premiere of Indiana Jones IV and Dauman sounds almost giddy about the experience. The new movie will be distributed in ways that didn’t exist when the last installment premiered 19 years ago—DVD and digital downloads—and viewed on devices that we take for granted now but weren’t around then. Heck, the web didn’t exist the last time Indy swung into action. Among the subjects we covered: the new premium network JV; Viacom’s lawsuit against Google (NSDQ: GOOG) and YouTube, the possibility of more investment in Joost, and last week’s announcement that sibling CBS (NYSE: CBS) is buying CNET (NSDQ: CNET) for $1.8 billion. Some excerpts:
—On premium JV: A few hours before we talked, the partners in the new JV finally confirmed the open secret that Showtime vet Mark Greenberg would be heading the effort. As Dauman points out, Greenberg—“the first and only choice”—has worked for two of the three partners (Lionsgate, Viacom): “We’re very happy we have Mark here officially because a lot of the things that need to be done require the full attention of an executive devoted to his service. We wanted someone so it wouldn’t turn into a Paramount, MGM or Lionsgate service.” Viacom’s handling the back end/infrastructure for a fee, which Dauman says “will allow the venture to have a running start. We won’t have to hire a whole bunch of people and can focus on content, marketing and distribution, which is what we wanted to focus on.” He expects that to keep the actual JV staff “pretty lean.” Lots more after the jump…
As for the business plan, Dauman says the JV expects to break even very rapidly but says a lot depends on distribution—and that there has been “tremendous” interest both from cable operators and those not at the cable show. “When we go to a particular distributor we will give them the flexibility to show in a linear fashion, to show a broadband offering to their consumers…. There’s a lot we can do that the incumbents haven’t thought of doing, haven’t wanted to do, have been restricted from doing – we don’t have those limitations because we’re the content owners.”
—On Google-YouTube a year later: Viacom’s copyright infringement lawsuit against Google and YouTube continues to wend its way through the courts. Is there a settlement in the offing? Dauman: “I respect the company, it’s a great company… they’ve certainly accomplished a lot and at some point I’m sure it will be resolved in one form or another and I assure you, will be resolved to our satisfaction.”
—On CBS and CNET: Asked about sibling CBS’s $1.8 billion acquisition of CNET, Dauman replied: “CBS pursues its strategy and Les’ job—and I respect him a great deal—is to pursue his strategy and have the right thing with his assets. He obviously has a different kind of asset base than we do, with a strong broadcast orientation. ... Seeing that, I’m sure the analysis shows that it’s right for them. Meanwhile, we’ll do what’s right for us.”
—On Joost: Viacom was an original investor in the much-hyped video service from the founders of Skype. Is the service where he thought it would be? “We come at Joost or other platforms from the point of view that we cannot predict—nor did we in that case or any other case—predict which ones are going to be hugely successful, moderately successful, which won’t work. ... We root for all the distribution platforms because the more of them there are, the more exposure our content has.” As for Joost, says Dauman, “They’ve been trying different things. They’ve been tweaking the model but we’ve certainly been happy with the relationship.” But will Viacom take part in the start-up’s second round? Doesn’t sound like it. Dauman: “We did receive equity in connection with our original deal and we’re happy where we are. … I don’t think it’s fair to them for me to comment.
—On the age or experimentation: Asked about trying electronic sell-thru via broadband or DVDs with a companion version that can be downloaded, Dauman replied: “This is an age of experimentation as technology is rolling out. Several of us are trying different things. We’re looking at what the others are doing. We talk to each other. Some models that sound great don’t work that well...You have to evaluate. Everything you do costs something to do. You have to evaluate and ultimately the consumer will dictate what works.”
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May 23, 2008 1:32 AM ET
Posted In: Entertainment, Companies, CBS, CNET, Google, YouTube, Viacom, philippe dauman
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