Jason Kilar, the former head of video and DVD businesses at Amazon.com, has been named CEO of a planned online video service being developed by media conglomerate News Corp. and NBC Universal, a media and entertainment company formed in 2004 by the merger of NBC and Vivendi Universal.
Announced in March, the as-yet-unnamed joint venture, based in Los Angeles, promises to launch a web site later this year offering thousands of hours of movies and video clips. The company says it will be able to reach 98% of U.S. Internet users through its distribution agreements with AOL, CNET, Comcast, MSN, MySpace and Yahoo.
Kilar, 36, who worked at Amazon.com from 1997 to 2006, was general manager of the company’s North American media businesses, which includes books, music, video and DVD sales. Kilar (pronounced KAI-ler) later served as senior vice president, Worldwide Application Software, where he was responsible for Amazon’s Marketplace business and other applications on Amazon’s web sites.
“Jason’s product and consumer expertise in the world of e-commerce is arguably unrivaled in this business and gives him a great insight into what it takes to create a superior user interface,” says Peter Chernin, president and chief operating office at News Corp. “We already have access to world-class content and near ubiquitous distribution, and the next step is marrying it with the features and tools that will help define the ideal user experience for video content on the web. We think Jason is the ideal person to lead that effort.”
Kilar says the joint venture has “a unique opportunity to create great customer experience through the combination of innovative technology and high-quality content. In the process, I believe we can play a significant role influencing how consumers find, discover and participate in premium content over the web. This is a big, inherently fun mission with which I’m proud and very excited to be associated.”
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