Schmidt: Hollywood will do fine on the Net; newspapers not so much

Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt told an audience of entertainment executives and advertisers that traditional, professional producers of video content would adapt to the Internet and find ways to replace any money lost as consumer habits shift. If someone were developing a series like "The Sopranos" today, Schmidt said, the producer would keep the basic weekly format but add hourly instant messages with hints of action to come, a daily teaser at 8 a.m. and at 5 p.m. and a three-minute clip with an advertisement for a show sponsor. "You will put all your information everywhere," Schmidt said. "This stuff works." The outlook for newspapers, on the other hand, is "bleak," and Schmidt said that's "a tragedy," in part because "investigative reporting is so important for democracy."