Yahoo lowers expectations for original content

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By Lisa Baertlein

SAN FRANCISCO, March 2 (Reuters) - Web media company Yahoo Inc. (YHOO.O: Quote, Profile, Research) wants to lower expectations for how much original programming it will produce as part of its online information and entertainment offerings, the company said on Thursday.

Yahoo will not do a string of one-off projects, focusing instead on combining program content with licensed, user-generated and other content, Yahoo spokeswoman Joanna Stevens said.

Speculation about the company's plans to deliver its own programming has swirled since Yahoo, which is headed by former Hollywood studio chief Terry Semel, hired Lloyd Braun in late 2004. Braun is the former chairman of the entertainment division at Walt Disney Co.'s (DIS.N: Quote, Profile, Research) ABC network.

Among the projects put on ice by Yahoo is "The Runner," a reality program Braun brought over from ABC, according to published reports.

Stevens declined to give specifics on the number or names of productions that were planned or are being dropped.

"We're focusing on tying all the different pieces together. We won't pursue a project unless we think there is an opportunity to make a sustainable business of it," Stevens said.

"I think they may just be trying to ratchet the expectations down," Forrester Research analyst Josh Bernoff said of Yahoo's plans.

Internet gossip sites recently have suggested that Braun was leaving the company due to differences with Semel, something Braun and other company executives dismissed in an article printed in the New York Times on Thursday.

By Lisa Baertlein

SAN FRANCISCO, March 2 (Reuters) - Web media company Yahoo Inc. (YHOO.O: Quote, Profile, Research) wants to lower expectations for how much original programming it will produce as part of its online information and entertainment offerings, the company said on Thursday.

Yahoo will not do a string of one-off projects, focusing instead on combining program content with licensed, user-generated and other content, Yahoo spokeswoman Joanna Stevens said.

Speculation about the company's plans to deliver its own programming has swirled since Yahoo, which is headed by former Hollywood studio chief Terry Semel, hired Lloyd Braun in late 2004. Braun is the former chairman of the entertainment division at Walt Disney Co.'s (DIS.N: Quote, Profile, Research) ABC network.

Among the projects put on ice by Yahoo is "The Runner," a reality program Braun brought over from ABC, according to published reports.

Stevens declined to give specifics on the number or names of productions that were planned or are being dropped.

"We're focusing on tying all the different pieces together. We won't pursue a project unless we think there is an opportunity to make a sustainable business of it," Stevens said.

"I think they may just be trying to ratchet the expectations down," Forrester Research analyst Josh Bernoff said of Yahoo's plans.

Internet gossip sites recently have suggested that Braun was leaving the company due to differences with Semel, something Braun and other company executives dismissed in an article printed in the New York Times on Thursday.
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Yahoo lowers expectations for original content

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Yahoo lowers expectations for original content

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