NewCo Names Jason Kilar CEO

NewCo, the coming joint video venture between News Corp and NBC Universal, is keeping itself in the news, though it has yet to put out a product. The company said today in an emailed press release it will be led by Jason Kilar, an executive at Amazon.com until last year, when he left to do a startup, as we recall.

NewCo had for the last few months been led by George Kliavkoff of NBC U. It is seeking, though not finding, $100 million in funding on a $1 billion valuation, as Om reported yesterday.

Kilar, 36, had helped lead Amazon’s video and DVD efforts during a nearly 10-year stay at the company. He starts with NewCo — still seeking a name — July 9. It’s good to see someone coming from the tech sector leading the old media venture, but selling DVDs is significantly different than giving away ad-supported streaming video. Amazon had only started Unbox, its digital video venture, in September 2006.