Yahoo Gives First Look at its New Video and Digital Content Programming

NEW YORK -- At the 2014 Digital Content NewFronts, Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) today unveiled the first of its new original long-form shows, a new partnership with Live Nation for live streaming concerts, the all new Yahoo Travel digital magazine, and new advertising opportunities and measurement capabilities.

"Yahoo is focused on connecting artists, storytellers, great content producers and brands with the audiences they want -- at scale, across devices, every single day."

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, CMO Kathy Savitt, and Ned Brody, head of Americas, presented Yahoo's vision to make digital video more inspiring and entertaining for consumers and advertisers. They were joined onstage by a star-studded lineup including Executive Producer Mike Tollin; Kevin Love of the Minnesota Timberwolves; Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino; New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan; the stars of Comedy Central's "Broad City," Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer; and Kraft Foods Executive Vice President Jane Hilk. Yahoo News Global Anchor Katie Couric also interviewed Bobbi Brown, Yahoo Beauty Editor in Chief; Paula Froelich, Yahoo Travel Editor in Chief; Josh Wolk, Yahoo Entertainment Executive Editor; and Joe Zee, Yahoo Fashion Editor in Chief and Executive Creative Editor.

"We are in a time of rapid and dramatic change in how people read and view content online. Our goal is to not only enable the future but also to help invent it," said Kathy Savitt, CMO of Yahoo. "Yahoo is focused on connecting artists, storytellers, great content producers and brands with the audiences they want -- at scale, across devices, every single day."

New Original Programming, Premiering Exclusively on Yahoo

Yahoo today announced the first two original comedies in its new lineup of long-form shows. The new shows will join the growing collection of award-winning comedy programming available on Yahoo. Each series will launch on Yahoo Screen next year and will deliver 30-minute episodes viewers can enjoy all at once on the Yahoo Screen mobile app, desktop, or in their living rooms on Apple TV and Roku.

From three time Emmy nominee Paul Feig ("Freaks and Geeks," "Bridesmaids," "The Office"), "Other Space" is a galactic adventure set in the early 22nd century, when the human race has mapped most of the known universe, failed to find alien life, and frankly gotten a little tired of the whole thing. A spaceship on a routine collection mission stumbles into the greatest discovery in history: an alternate universe, far stranger and way more dangerous than ours. Now the ship's crew -- a collection of overmatched rookies, feuding siblings, burned-out veterans and obsolete robots -- has to explore this new universe to try and find a way back home alive. (8 half-hour episodes)

From hit TV executive producer Mike Tollin ("One Tree Hill," "Smallville," and "Varsity Blues") and two-time Emmy nominated director Bryan Gordon ("Curb Your Enthusiasm," "The Office," "Party Down"), "Sin City Saints" is an off-beat comedy set in the front office of a fictional pro basketball expansion team. The show will revolve around Jake Tullus, a Silicon Valley tycoon whose lifelong dream was to buy a pro basketball team but quickly finds he's in over his head. The group he assembled won't be much help. "Sin City Saints" will follow the triumphs, travails, and transgressions of Las Vegas' first major league sports franchise. (8 half-hour episodes)

Katie Couric also unveiled two new shows launching this summer. First, a series called "World 3.0," featuring the disruptors, scientists, builders, innovators and social entrepreneurs who are "hacking" life as we know it. The second is a series called "Now I Get It," which aims to help people better understand the news drivers and issues of the day by giving them a short, visual explanation in a shareable video.

Yahoo Partners with Live Nation to Bring Fans Largest Collection of Live Concert Streams on the Web

Savitt also announced a new initiative that will bring millions of viewers live programming and unscripted moments across music, sports and entertainment: Yahoo Live. As part of the initiative, Yahoo will launch a new Live Nation channel on Yahoo Screen. Beginning this summer, Yahoo and Live Nation will begin producing the largest collection of U.S. concert live streams on the web: one live concert, every day, 365 days a year.

The Live Nation Channel presents new ways for brands to reach music fans through sponsorships that enhance the viewer experience with content such as exclusive interviews, backstage sneak peeks and even special performances. Kellogg's, one of the world's leading CPG brands, today was the first to announce a sponsorship with Yahoo and Live Nation.

Introducing Yahoo Travel

Starting today, Yahoo is bringing readers a first-class ticket around the world with the launch of the new Yahoo Travel -- an immersive digital magazine that makes those daydreams to getaways near and far a reality.

Yahoo Travel brings together an all-star team of explorers and cool-hunters who have a passion for discovering the world's most amazing places, including Laura Begley Bloom, former Deputy Editor of Travel + Leisure; Jo Piazza, best-selling author and former Executive News Director for In Touch and Life & Style; and Yahoo Travel's own Greg Keraghosian. The team will cover everything from solo trips and exotic adventures, to affordable family vacations and luxury escapes -- with memorable videos, stunning photography and insider information to make travel dreams come to life.

Yahoo Travel offers the same seamless native advertising, with sponsored articles and videos that are just as engaging as the stories around them. Brands can connect with readers through beautiful images, compelling videos, and sharable stories. Las Vegas and Walt Disney Parks and Resorts are the launch sponsors as Yahoo Travel takes off.

New Advertising Formats and Measurement Opportunities

Yahoo unveiled new video and rich media advertising experiences designed for the Yahoo login page and digital magazines that help brands tell powerful stories. These new ad opportunities will be available in the coming weeks.

Yahoo Splash Ads are high-impact opportunities integrated within the design of our digital magazines. Appearing on tablet and desktop, Yahoo Splash Ads offer new ways for brands to share entertaining video or hi-res images with readers. Similar to how readers interact with and share the stories, images and videos on Yahoo's digital magazines, these ads are designed to be just as compelling as the content around them.

Yahoo also introduced the Yahoo Full Page Video Login Ads that offer an immersive 15-second video experience for viewers, and provide brands a new way to capture their attention.

comScore and Yahoo announced that they are partnering to simplify digital ad buying and measurement for marketers around the world. The partnership will provide advertisers with access to comScore's vCE metric through Yahoo's ad serving and reporting tools, delivering TV-comparable metrics for video, display and mobile ad campaigns that reach audiences on Yahoo and across the web.

This integrated solution will simplify the digital advertising experience for marketers in a number of ways. Advertisers will be able to set up campaigns without the labor-intensive tagging process. Then, once a campaign is live, advertisers will be able to access near real-time reports on audience reach to better adjust and optimize their campaigns.

More information about Yahoo's Digital NewFronts announcements can be found at yahoo.tumblr.com and https://advertising.yahoo.com/Blog/.