Facebook hiring exec to boost media deals
updated 03:55 pm EDT, Tue September 20, 2011
Facebook looking to hire exec for media deals
Social network Facebook wants to shore up its media offerings by hiring a high-profile executive, sources claimed Tuesday. Facebook wants to bring more music and movie content. To this end, it spoke with MySpace co-President and former MTV exec Jason Hirschhorn, according to the Reuters tips.
Conversation with Hirschhorn may not have been fruitful, but it showed Facebook is changing its attitude.
"They had held the media industry at arm's length for a while. It was: 'We are a platform, come use us all you want but we don't necessarily need to partner with you,'" said one of the informants. "They realize that one of the next phases in its evolution is to work with the media companies."
No official comments have been made by either Facebook or Hirschhorn.
Facebook has offered a movie rental through a deal with Warner Brothers, though only Dark Knight was available, while Universal Pictures offered The Big Lebowski through the social network.
The sources added that Facebook put its media mogul search on hold for a while, but is now keen to start it back up. Facebook is nearly ready in the meantime to partly integrate streaming music services such as Spotify, Rhapsody and Rdio into users' home pages, however. A formal introduction is expected at this week's f8 conference.
Also new will be variations of Facebook's Like button. Users will have the ability to share websites or other online content with Read, Watched or Listened buttons. More media offerings would allow Facebook to move around more of its own Facebook Credits currency, transactions from which give Facebook a 30 percent cut.
