You saw the announcement last month of Google buying YouTube for $1.65 billion (yes, billion). And you were probably saying to yourself, they paid how much for what?

But lost in the headlines of the future of video on the web were some of the bigger issues. How does YouTube make any money? Or more to the point, how will they make money? Those who looked deeper might have been wondering about the biggest issue of all--how do they get away with all the copyright infringements from showing everything from “The Daily Show with John Stewart” to Eminem's latest music video?

The Wharton Club of Northern California is pleased to present Wharton Marketing Professor Peter Fader in an interactive conference call!

Prof. Fader will discuss the implications of traditional entertainment providers combining with upstart user-generated content web sites. The call will focus on the recent deal between Warner Music and YouTube as well as the implications for future business models as both sides try to make a sustainable business in the face of radically changing technology.

Wharton Marketing Professor Peter Fader believes YouTube's latest partnership is "the single biggest business development deal in the history of digital media. This changes everything, and people will look back at it as a turning point." Other say copyright concerns still linger over YouTube, while other industry watchers--notably Internet entrepreneur, industry commentator and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban--say YouTube could be crushed by copyright lawsuits because it largely distributes unlicensed content.

Come join us with in a new event format designed to allow Wharton professors to share their thoughts on current topics and keep Wharton alumni up to date on the biggest trends in various industries. Our conference call--modeled after the analyst calls that investment banks do with their investors--will be part lecture (the first 15-20 minutes) followed by a Q&A session and a lively discussion with Prof. Fader as to the future of this media. To make this call more beneficial to all, additional materials will be distributed before the call so that the discussion can be at the highest level possible.

Register Online

When: Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Time: 12:00pm west coast time
Where: Via Conference Call (Dial-in and pass code to be provided closer to event)
Registration: No charge for current WCNC members. Registration available beginning 9:00am, Monday, November 20th. WCNC Members only for this event. (Note: although there is no event registration fee for WCNC members, "seating" will be limited at this event--please register only if you are confident you'll be able to attend.)

For more background, please read the following article posted on Knowledge@Wharton: Coming Attraction: YouTube's Business Model

Professor Fader's expertise centers around the analysis of behavioral data to understand and forecast customer shopping/purchasing activities. He works with a wide range of data sources from industries such as consumer packaged goods, e-commerce, and music (online and offline). Much of his research highlights the common behavioral patterns that exist across these and other seemingly different domains.

Currently, he is focusing on demonstrating the usefulness of probability models for data-intensive managerial problems as a contrast to data mining and other popular--but often inappropriate--techniques. Professor Fader believes that marketing should not be viewed as a "soft" discipline, and he frequently works with different companies and industry associations to improve managerial perspectives and practices in this regard. His work has been published in--and he serves on the editorial boards of--a number of leading journals in marketing, statistics, and the management sciences.