Looking to boost its video hosting and syndication business, Google has poached Michael Steib from NBC Universal.
Steib, who was NBC's general manager of strategic ventures, created the National Broadband Company, or NBBC, as a distribution site for video programming to various internet sites in direct competition with Google, MediaPost reports. Steib has no official title yet, but he will head up a new ad sales team for Google.
"This is about Google looking for the right people to develop a strong video syndication model," said Matt Wasserlauf, CEO of online video sales network Broadband Enterprises.
The addition of Steib is the latest move by Google to beef up its video presence. It purchased video-sharing site YouTube last fall for $1.65 billion.