Yahoo! Puts Net TV Broadcasting in Its Sights

What's the difference between Yahoo! (YHOO Quote) and a television broadcaster? Not much, apparently.

The world's most-visited Web site is apparently developing a daily, two-hour live video program -- devoted to the technology industry and technology stocks -- for broadcast over the Internet. If the company goes through with the show, Yahoo!-watchers say it would be the first time that the online empire created its own, regularly scheduled video programming, as opposed to webcasting corporate events, entertainment and sports produced by other companies.

"As an outside observer, you'd say this is recreating TV on the Internet," says Colin McNay, a principal with Essex Investment Management, which held more than a million Yahoo! shares at the end of September, according to FC ShareWatch.

Even in its traditional Internet content, Yahoo! has shied from originating editorial material, preferring instead to assemble other firms' work. But CEO Tim Koogle has long referred to his company as a global branded network, and new efforts in TV could represent an evolutionary step in the firm's approach to the Internet.

Wants Ads

Yahoo! is usually tight-lipped about publicizing new ventures, but evidence of the possible show lies on a page of Yahoo!'s own Web site. In an entry for a "Webcaster" in its own help-wanted listings, Yahoo! states, "We are looking for smart folks to host a two-hour daily live, free form, completely ad-libbed, streamed online show about the technology industry and investing in technology stocks." The show will include interviews with CEOs and analysts, and it will include market reports and newsgathering from outside the studio, according to the ad. The job openings are based in Santa Clara, Calif., where Yahoo! is headquartered.

The company didn't respond to requests for comment.

Natural Progression

Yahoo! outsiders say the move would represent a natural progression from its purchase earlier this year of Internet broadcaster broadcast.com, which netcasts audio and video feeds of sporting events, other TV and radio entertainment, earnings calls and other business-related events. At the time of the acquisition, Yahoo! said it would be integrating streamed audio and video from broadcast.com into the Yahoo! site. But investors and others have generally understood that Yahoo! wasn't going to produce original programming itself.

If Yahoo! indeed creates an investing show, it would be a promising opportunity, says Josh Harris, founder of Pseudo Programs, a privately held New York-based company that produces live audio and video programming for the Internet. Harris envisions a show that would include a lot of interaction with its viewers, who might have previously spent their viewing time in typewritten online chat rooms. Chat is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, "hour-burners" on the Web, as Harris puts it. Unfortunately, he says, "the value per hourly eyeball is relatively low, because the advertising opportunity is only a banner ad." Adding video lends itself to advertising and sponsorship, Harris says, increasing the value per eyeball.

Yahoo! isn't the only company interested in investment-themed online broadcasts right now. Pseudo itself is readying BizTech2000, an online channel to be run by former CNNfn producer Mark Berniker. Speaking anonymously, a hedge fund manager who owns Yahoo! pointed out that Yahoo!'s broadcast would also compete with RadioWallStreet, an online program featuring analyst and company executive interviews from Investor Broadcast Network, which also operates the Vcall corporate conference call service.

The Convergence Lobby

Taking the long view, many Internet executives say it's inevitable that as high-speed connections become more widely available, video programming will become more palatable on the Internet, and it will become harder to distinguish broadcast TV channels from Net-delivered shows featuring full-screen, full-motion video. It's the possibility of Net-delivered video, for example, that led America Online (AOL Quote) and other online services to lobby in Congress recently against legislation that could have prevented them from carrying television programming.

It is difficult to predict whether Yahoo! might produce shows on other subjects, or how they might be received. A hedge fund analyst with media investments, speaking on condition of anonymity, says Yahoo!'s Internet expertise might not translate into the ability to create a good online show. "Just because you're great at running a newsstand doesn't mean you're great at running the paper," the analyst says.

It's also hard to determine the effect of a technology investing show, and other programming, on Yahoo!'s stock price and earnings. At least Yahoo! will get better press by producing original programs than it would have from just rebroadcasting shows, says one Internet executive involved in online broadcasting. "I don't think they're going to make a huge amount of money," the executive says. Of course, Yahoo! doesn't exactly need good news to improve people's confidence in the company. Its stock, which was off 3% Tuesday at around 340, has doubled since late October.

At least the venture would be an inexpensive one for Yahoo!. The job posting for the webcaster states that previous on-air experience is "definitely" not required; a basic knowledge of television production, or an internship at a TV station, is enough to give a candidate an edge. So it's clear the company isn't hoping to snare Dan Rather.

Not for the first season, at least.