YouTube founders discuss meaning of big deal

LOS ANGELES - From offices above a pizza parlor in San Mateo, Calif., YouTube founders Chad Hurley and Steve Chen birthed a video-sharing Web site that has made a huge mark in the Internet and entertainment world after barely a year in operation.

On the day Google announced its $1.65 billion acquisition of YouTube, Hurley and Chen talked about what the deal means for the exploding world of Internet video.

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: HOW LONG DID THIS TAKE TO COME

TOGETHER?

Chad Hurley: Throughout the course of developing this company, there’s been a lot of interest. Really, in the last week or so, we saw the possibilities of combining forces with Google. What really helped accelerate discussions was the opportunity to operate independently. It will allow me and Steve to sharpen our focus for our community and for our partners (and) to have the resources and experience of Google with us.

THR: What is the reporting structure between YouTube and Google?

Hurley: Over the coming weeks and months, integration teams will sort out the exact details of how it’s going to work. But Steve and I are going to continue to do our thing and operate the company.

Steve Chen: We’re really excited. Listening to the folks from Google and their vision of how we’ll interoperate with Google … they don’t want to stop our momentum. They want us to continue to excel in the things we’re doing.

THR: WHAT SHOULD CONTENT COMPANIES TAKE AWAY FROM THIS DEAL

AND THE CONTENT DEALS YOU ANNOUNCED?

Hurley: We’re committed to building a new market for content owners, with Sony BMG and Universal Music leveraging the same technologies as Warner Music Group. There are new ways to leverage user-generated content that never existed before. CBS will be the first network to start testing some of these tools that we’re releasing by the end of the year. What’s also exciting with CBS is that they’re developing three specific feeds on a daily basis — entertainment, news and sports. People have the ability to go to a CBS channel on a site, a daily feed. I think it’s something your users are going to benefit from.

THR: ARE THERE MORE CONTENT DEALS TO COME?

Hurley: This is just the beginning. We’re going to have more resources to accelerate these discussions. We are a relatively small company now, and we have the opportunity to really move forward with a lot of these partnerships. We’ll move quicker on these deals and focus on the tools we’re building. Google will have more opportunity to monetize their content in an effective way.

THR: COMPANIES THAT DIDN’T ACQUIRE YOU, WILL THAT AFFECT

FUTURE RELATIONS WITH THEM?

Hurley: I don’t know about those companies specifically. What allowed us to (work with) Google was (that) we shared a similar vision … and there was the opportunity to remain independent.

THR: WAS MAINTAINING INDEPENDENCE OF PRIMARY IMPORTANCE TO

YOU?

Hurley: Steve and I have really enjoyed the opportunity to define this new market and build a product for our partners. Now with our relationship with Google, we’ll continue to do that for years to come.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

// October 10th, 2006