Yahoo already shows national and international news from CBS' "60 Minutes" as well as Walt Disney Co.'s ABC and Time Warner Inc.'s CNN.
The latest deal will allow Yahoo to post 10 to 20 local news clips from each of the CBS-owned TV stations covered in the exclusive arrangement. The stations encompass the nation's largest metropolitan markets.
I bet you didn't know that Yahoo was already showing "60 Minutes" and CNN clips. Isn't that special? Of course, not everybody is happy about this: "'Yahoo almost seems to be telling people what they should be watching instead of letting them make their own choices,' said Dmitry Shapiro, chief executive of video start-up Veoh Networks."
That seems like a fair statement, Dmitry, and what folks indeed should be worried about. Yet, this appears to be profitable for the Internet giant: “The formula has worked well for Yahoo so far. Nearly 38 million people in the United States streamed videos at Yahoo in July, ranking just ahead of News Corp.'s MySpace.com and YouTube, according to the most recent data from ComScore Media Metrix.”
It is doubtful a coincidence that this announcement comes just a week after Google’s purchase of YouTube. Furthermore, it’s safe to say that conservative Yahoo devotees might be more comfortable if the e-behemoth would consider a similar arrangement with Fox News…or would that be asking too much?
