• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, June 29, 2007

An Internet video venture, which NBC Universal has said will usher in an additional $1 billion in online inventory, has a new leader. Amazon.com veteran Jason Kilar has been tapped as CEO of the unnamed online video operation co-owned by NBCU and News Corp. It will offer full-length programs and movies from both.

The venture was announced in March as NBCU, News Corp. and other media companies were frustrated that content clips were being placed without permission on video-sharing sites, notably YouTube. The two parties invited Viacom to join--its MTV Networks is in litigation with YouTube--but its CEO Philippe Dauman declined, given issues over terms.

Kilar, who has been at Amazon for a decade, starts July 9. He reports to NBCU and News Corp.'s boards and their respective executives: Jeff Zucker and Peter Chernin.

Details about the ad-supported site have been nebulous, particularly its name. But slides in an NBCU investor presentation this month stated it would launch in September.

On Thursday, the companies said it would launch later this year.

The venture will offer full-length episodes of shows from the NBC and Fox networks and films from Universal and News Corp.'s studio, along with other videos. It will include its own dedicated site, and will distribute video on AOL, CNET, Comcast, MSN, MySpace and Yahoo.

Kilar, 36, is credited with expanding Amazon to areas outside bookselling. NBC and News Corp. said he "originally wrote the business plan for Amazon's entry into the video and DVD businesses," a unit he headed.