The creation of a streaming video service has particular significance to Yahoo! under the leadership of Terry Semel, the former Warner Bros. studio head who became Yahoo!'s chief executive in May 2001. Semel has been an outspoken proponent of the Web as a complement to existing media and entertainment franchises. Indeed, the organisation of content on Platinum Yahoo! coincides with this view. Television networks would provide Yahoo! with repurposed or exclusive clips from television shows, most likely reality programs, or offer video news packages that may have already aired on television, sources said. A streaming video service also falls in the realm of Yahoo!'s broadband plans. The company is trying to catch the growing number of Internet users migrating onto high-speed broadband connections by offering them paid services. Last September, Yahoo! launched its co-branded digital subscriber line (DSL) service with SBC Communications. SBC's existing and new DSL subscribers will receive a customised Web browser programmed by Yahoo! that also includes a list of premium services bundled into the offering. Waiting for broadband
Meanwhile, Yahoo!'s Semel has said that the company expects to partner with multiple broadband providers to offer an enhanced version of its service. However, company executives have also couched these predictions by saying the SBC deal will be one of a kind in terms of the depth of their relationship. Still, Semel told Wall Street analysts during Yahoo!'s earnings report last month that executives would shed more light on the company's broadband plans during analyst day. The centerpiece of this will be Yahoo!'s "bring your own access" service, a bundle of broadband-centric features that people with high-speed access can purchase for a monthly fee. "BYOA" has become the strategy du jour among Yahoo! and its competitors America Online and MSN. AOL and MSN have priced their services at $14.95 and $9.95, respectively. Two sources close to Yahoo! said BYOA will be discussed during analyst day, but the price of the offering has not been set. Yahoo! already offered some hints of things to come when it began testing a premium service package called "Yahoo! Plus". Sources say the company's BYOA offering will be an evolution of Yahoo! Plus but declined to elaborate. Selling premium services has been a priority for Yahoo! to bolster its nonadvertising revenue stream. The company over the past year has witnessed its total subscriber base surpass 2 million, from people buying services such as extra email storage, email forwarding and personals, among others. Yahoo!'s DSL partnership with SBC is also expected to boost this number in the coming year.
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