Yahoo is reportedly interested in making a push into original programming in hopes to compete with Netflix and other sites as more and more add to their libraries of content. While Yahoo has not confirmed the news, CEO Marissa Mayer could announce the plans as soon as April 28 at its “NewsFront” event.
Sources for The Wall Street Journal say that Yahoo is close to putting in orders for four original shows. These will not be limited web shows, but rather traditional half-hour comedies, similar to shows that Hulu and Netflix have ordered. Each show would run 10 episodes and could cost as much as $700,000-per-episode.
“They want to blow it out big time,” one insider told the WSJ. They hope to hire experienced TV people to write and direct.
“They're looking at the same type of shows that Netflix and Amazon are eyeing,” another source told the site.
The news comes just as it was reported that Microsoft is also interested in making a big push to add original content to XBox Live. Amazon also finally announced its set-top box Fire TV last week.
As for Yahoo itself, the company is desperately trying to to branch out with more to offer, having recently hired former NY Times tech writer David Pogue and courting Katie Couric. ComScore data shows that Yahoo’s video content only garnered 384 million views in January, far behind YouTube, notes the WSJ.