NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Yahoo Inc. (NYSE:YHOO) today announced at its 2015 Digital Content NewFront, 18 new series across Live, Digital Magazines and Original video programming as well as new advertising opportunities. The new series, along with other newly launched programming being highlighted from the Digital Magazine properties and the company’s current Live and Original content, make up 55 video series within Yahoo’s digital video slate.
The presentation was hosted by Community star Joel McHale and opened with a performance by Grammy® nominated producer/DJ Steve Aoki. Yahoo executives, including Marissa Mayer, Yahoo CEO, Kathy Savitt, CMO and Head of Media, Lisa Utzschneider, SVP, Sales, Americas, and Lisa Licht, SVP, Marketing Partnerships, presented the new content and advertising opportunities to a packed audience at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall.
“Over the last year we’ve made strategic investments in our three digital content pillars, Yahoo Live, Yahoo Digital Magazines and Yahoo Originals,” said Kathy Savitt, CMO and Head of Media at Yahoo. “We’re pleased to be extending those investments into premium video content offerings to guide our users to the best, most relevant content and the world’s best storytellers to our global audience.”
“We know that advertisers want to tap into premium video content that connects them with engaged audiences across devices, and they also want to buy video ads programmatically,” said Lisa Utzschneider, SVP, Sales, Americas at Yahoo. “With our new slate of digital video programming and a wide variety of video ad formats and buying options, we’re helping advertisers meet business objectives - whether they want to buy a show, buy a channel or buy an audience segment.”
A selection of the new programming includes: Ultimate DJ, a global Electronic Music competition-style live series executive produced by Simon Cowell, Patrick Moxey, Hamish Hamilton, Ian Stewart, and Kelly Belldegrun; a renewed partnership for a second year with Live Nation to live stream concerts with the addition of festivals; The Pursuit, a new scripted original long-form series from Scott Stuber and Beth McCarthy Miller; and multiple new programs from Yahoo’s Digital Magazines, including I Am Naomi, starring executive producer Naomi Campbell, and Riding Shotgun with Michelle Rodriguez, starring executive producer Michelle Rodriguez; among others.
Yahoo Live launched in July 2014 as the ultimate destination for online live music and events, which included a partnership with Live Nation to stream live concerts throughout the year. Since its origin, live programming on the site has had more than 110 million streams.
Yahoo is expanding live video programming to offer more than ever before. In addition to Ultimate DJ and the continuation of the successful partnership with Live Nation, Yahoo will add the largest music festivals and concerts featuring top artists. Additionally, Yahoo has announced the iHeartRadio Concert Series in partnership with iHeartMedia to broadcast top events. Superfan Live, which will offer after-shows for prime time television fan-favorites, Everybody’s Business, a live weekly show on Yahoo Finance and Yahoo News Live with Yahoo Global News Anchor Katie Couric and the Yahoo News team, were also part of the new Live programming announcement.
Yahoo Digital Magazines, which launched in 2014, are now made up of 13 Digital Magazines, including No. 1 category leaders Yahoo Style, Yahoo Beauty, Yahoo Movies, Yahoo Travel and Yahoo Parenting.1 The focus for the first year was about launching with great writing, photography and design. This year, Yahoo Digital Magazines are evolving to become full digital video channels. Many of the company’s Digital Magazines already feature video series garnering over 1 million views per episode.
Yahoo announced 14 new video series for a total of 47 original series across Yahoo’s Digital Magazine Channels. In addition to I Am Naomi and Riding Shotgun, other new series include Thug Kitchen, YourTech, #OneSmallThing, NewsBites, Viewfinder, Made It With, Made Good, MLB Condensed Games and Offensive Interference, along with Superfan Live, Everybody’s Business and Yahoo News Live, which were included as part of the company’s Live announcement.
Yahoo Announces New Comedy Series “The Pursuit” from Scott Stuber and Beth McCarthy Miller
Yahoo Screen recently launched the sixth season of Community, and series premieres of Sin City Saints and Other Space. Adding to the slate of original long-form programming, Yahoo announced a new comedy series, The Pursuit, from executive producers Scott Stuber and Dylan Clark, and director and executive producer Beth McCarthy Miller. The Pursuit is about what it means to be in your late 20s in 2015 in Manhattan, with an edgier, 21st century take on Friends in the era of social media. The series will follow a group of characters in pursuit of what their generation desires: success, love, material wealth, happiness...or maybe some, all or none of the above.
Yahoo Partners with Millward Brown Digital to Enhance Digital Ad Measurement
Yahoo also announced a new partnership with Millward Brown Digital, a leader in brand and digital measurement, that will provide more scalable brand impact measurement for digital ad campaigns across Yahoo. This offering will enable brand marketers to measure and optimize brand lift metrics for all their campaigns across Yahoo and the brands extensive network.
More information about Yahoo’s Digital Content NewFront announcements can be found at yahoo.tumblr.com and https://advertising.yahoo.com/Blog/.
1 Source: March 2015 comScore Multi Platform Custom Category
About Yahoo
Yahoo is a guide focused on making users' daily habits inspiring and entertaining. By creating highly personalized experiences for our users, we keep people connected to what matters most to them, across devices and around the world. In turn, we create value for advertisers by connecting them with the audiences that build their businesses. Yahoo is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, and has offices located throughout the Americas, Asia Pacific (APAC) and the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) regions. For more information, visit the pressroom (pressroom.yahoo.net) or the Company's blog (yahoo.tumblr.com).
