It’s so hard to keep up — one week it’s all original content, all the time. The next it’s, well, why do the work when someone else will do it for you? Yahoo has decided to focus its energy on acquired content — either from established media outlets or users.
Yes, users. They’re going to provide the fuel that makes a corporate giant look good to stockholders. It’s one thing for a nervy start-up like YouTube to look to do-it-yourselfers; it’s another to expect something for nothing (not that we believe for one second that Yahoo! will forego appropriate compensation).
Of course, making yourself look like competition for the major studios isn’t great either. Even if it’s exactly what the studios need.
And poor Lloyd Braun, not only does he look wishy-washy (tune in next week for the portal’s change of heart), but he’s apparently not playing nice with Terry Semel. Braun may or may not be the dude making these announcements in the near future.
Braun, a veteran of ABC (little programs like Lost and Desperate Housewives) acknowledges that he’s not quite clear what this Internet thing is all about. So he gets points for learning on the job.
The new strategy will be unveiled tomorrow. The ‘loper intern will be tapped for live-blogging duties if it fits the schedule. Otherwise we’ll just crib from news reports. For those of us who have worked in Hollywood for any length of time, things sound ominous:
“I thought it would be a good time, given all the rumor and innuendo, for me to reiterate once and for all that I am not going anywhere,” Mr. Braun said.