Celebrity News

Google’s Schmidt eyeing TV

Google honcho Eric Schmidt, who announced his plan to hand over control of the tech giant last week, is eyeballing a career in TV, Page Six has learned.

Sources say the outspoken chief, who broke the news that he’s passing the CEO title to 37-year-old co-founder Larry Page in a sarcastic tweet — “Day-to-day adult supervision no longer needed!” — has been consulting with CNN’s “Parker Spitzer” executive producer Liza McGuirk on developing a show featuring himself as host.

The two first connected on the Sunday foreign-affairs program “Fareed Zakaria GPS,” which McGuirk executive produced and where Schmidt was a regular guest. When Schmidt filmed a pilot for CNN in August, McGuirk oversaw the production.

A source told us, “Eric wants to be a talk-show host. He’s been working with Liza to develop a show, but he has not yet been picked up by any network.”

Appearing on “Parker Spitzer,” the Google chief raised eyebrows when he said people who are worried about losing their privacy with the Google Street View mapping service can “just move.” He was also criticized for dismissing the importance of privacy after saying: “If you have something that you don’t want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it in the first place,” in a December 2009 interview with CNBC’s Maria Bartiromo. Schmidt will step down April 4, but he’ll continue to have a role in the company as executive chairman and will assist in managing business and government relations. He is also a member of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology and is reportedly considering a greater role in public service.

“Eric Schmidt has been looking for a TV job for over a year,” said a CNN insider. “But the pilot he filmed with Liza was a complete disaster.”

Schmidt and Google didn’t get back to us.