Barry Diller reflects on broadcasting in the Internet era
— By Lori Craig
Internet mogul Barry Diller spoke about the future of media companies during the 2007 Institute on Entertainment Law and Business, attended by a record number of lawyers, agents and other entertainment industry professionals.
New technology challenges the status quo in media companies, which fight to protect the incumbent technology — whatever it is, Diller said during the keynote luncheon at USC’s Town and Gown Oct. 27.
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| IAC CEO Barry Diller spoke at the 2007 Institute on Entertainment Law and Business |
“It’s not a friendly environment that media companies are engaged in when they confront that developing world,” Diller told an audience of nearly 450 people.
Diller rose from a humble beginning in the mail room at William Morris Agency (with only one semester of college under his belt) to become a television executive and Internet magnate. He spent decades at the helm of Fox, Inc., then Paramount Pictures, and is currently chairman and CEO of InterActiveCorp and chairman of Expedia. IAC owns and operates more than 60 brands, including Ask.com, Evite and Match.com.
He responded to an array of questions posed by Peter Guber, chairman of Mandalay Entertainment Group, which touched on a number of entertainment industry-related topics, including distribution methods.
“This Internet thing is uncontrollable because it’s not about scarcity, it’s about plenty,” Diller said. With the exception of Rupert Murdoch’s Newscorp, he said, “all the other companies have not gotten wet, they have not gotten dirty, when it comes to the properties of interactivity.”
That openness of communication means user-generated content found on sites like YouTube will continue to grow, he said.
“I’m just amazed you can push a button and you publish to the world — instantly,” Diller said. “Whether anyone will want to read it or not, I can’t tell you … but you’ve got an absolutely even chance with anyone else. That’s amazing.”
Such accessibility also is changing the power structure of media companies, he said.
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| Mandalay Entertainment Group Chairman Peter Guber, left, and Barry Diller |
“The truth is, the engineers are where the value is,” Diller said. “In fact, they make these businesses run; they make these things actually work.”
Other sessions during the day-long Institute on Entertainment Law and Business addressed sports branding, legal ethics and the new 360 deal. The Institute, “Hollywood Fake-Out: Everything You Wanted to Know about the Entertainment Industry but Were Afraid to Ask,” was presented by the USC Gould School of Law and the Beverly Hills Bar Association.
For more information on this and five other conferences produced annually by USC Law Continuing Legal Education, click here.
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