Media and entertainment execs have been here in full force. A News Corp. contingent led by Rupert Murdoch and including Peter Chernin and Peter Levinsohn, toured the floor Tuesday morning, making visits to Sony, Microsoft, TiVo and Samsung. NBC Universal’s interactive team, including Beth Comstock and George Kliavkoff, was everywhere. We’ve already written here about the Viacom, CBS and ABC contingents. At the Microsoft booth Wednesday, I ran into a group of cable execs on the annual CTAM CES tour. (I wish I had a picture of the look on a couple of faces when I showed them what DirecTV was passing out on the floor: blue lollipops that said “Cable sucks.”) CES has become a place where senior execs from companies who want to be viewed as being in the know think they need to show up — even if it’s just for an hour or two — and where those who are serious about doing business need to see each other. At one of the only parties I was able to make it to after all the great invites, dozens of biz-dev people managed to stay up past midnight for an annual after-hours gathering. (Google loomed large last year but barely showed up for CES 2007. No booth, no huge contingent. Maybe they were too busy with the iPhone.)
Will it remain this way? As long as people come away with enough momentum for real deals. One of the things CES has going for it is one of the top knocks against it: its broad scope. An executive who might otherwise have to hit multiple conferences can, with a lot of planning (and a good limo driver), cross multiple sectors in a matter of days — and multiple parties at night.
Then again, I keep hearing one of Bob Iger’s lines from his keynote:”Remember, the money you lose in Las Vegas stays in Las Vegas.”
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