Viacom gets into bed with Microsoft
Oh, the rivalry, the jealousy, between Google and Microsoft. Viacom generally keeps itself aloof from these two giants, but, surprise, surprise, it now seems that Microsoft and Viacom have announced a deal that the pundits reckon will be worth about $500 million.
The minutiae of the arrangement is that Microsoft will get video from Viacom and all the related properties such as Comedy Central, and all this will be available on MSN and XBox 360. No surprise there maybe, as Microsoft already distributes a lot of content from Viacom. Additionally, Microsoft will get casual games from Viacom, and Microsoft’s Atlas will be the ad server for Viacom, so Viacom will provide unsold display advertising inventory on its digital sites for Microsoft to sell and serve.
So what does Viacom get in return for all this largesse? Money, it seems. Microsoft is going to buy advertising on Viacom broadcast and online networks over a period of five years, and the two companies are planning to work together on promotions and sponsorships for MTV and BET.
It looks as though this deal is actually going to work very well for Viacom – they don’t actually need to spend anything, and they will be getting really good money for the advertising, plus much wider distribution for their content.
It is possible that this deal, and others like it which may follow, will now force Google to start doing similar with other content providers.
Like most machinations of the world of IT, it is great to sit back and see what will happen next. It will be interesting to see how Google ultimately responds to deals such as this.