The Wall Street Journal reports that Yahoo is planning to take on Netflix and Amazon, with ambitions to produce its own original web-series programming. The newspaper cites “people briefed on the company’s plans” who reckon that Mayer & Co. are “close to ordering four Web series.”
Seems they’re not messing around, either, with those same sources explaining that “Yahoo isn’t looking for short-form Web originals, but rather 10-episode, half-hour comedies with per-episode budgets ranging from $700,000 to a few million dollars.”
The Journal claims that Yahoo will showcase some of this content to advertisers towards the end of April, in a bid to secure as sales. It already has some serious competition to contend with, though, from the likes of Netflix, Amazon and Hulu — think Orange Is the New Black and Alpha House. Even if these rumours are true, it of course remains to be seen whether Yahoo will make a success of what can be a very tough nut indeed to crack. Let’s wait see. [Wall Street Journal]
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