Commercials on connected TV deliver more attention and better business outcomes than other forms of digital video advertising, according to new research from Yahoo, Omnicom Media Group and Amplified Intelligence.

The research comes as advertisers pour money formerly earmarked for broadcast and cable TV into CTV.  The IAB this week forecast that spending on CTV is expected to grow 12% in 2024.

In the study, commercials on CTV delivered an average of 9.7 active attention seconds, about eight times more than mobile ads and 16 times more than desktops.

“This makes sense due to the nature of the device, where the ad takes up most of the TV screen, whereas desktop tends to have more content and, therefore, more distraction from the ads,” the companies said in announcing the results of the research.

The study also found that the quality of the content surrounding an ad matters. When ads ran in premium supplies of content, they delivered attention above benchmark levels.

Importantly, the research showed that higher attention levels contributed to better business outcomes, although viewing an ad on a personal device like a mobile phone was more likely to produce a sale than the same ad on a larger screen.

Consumers exposed to a brand’s ad had a 26% higher purchase intent on mobile compared to viewers not exposed to a brand’s ad. Viewing an ad on a desktop increased purchase intent 13% and CTV raised purchase intent 11%.

The report recommends that advertisers include CTV in omnichannel programmatic campaigns because of the consumer attention it generates.

It notes that where an ad appears matters, as does making sure that creative executions emphasize the brand. 

“For niche brands that require consumers’ Active Attention to take action, having the brand clearly appear on the creative is essential,” the study said.

“At a time when consumers’ media consumption is more fragmented than ever, being able to understand — and capture — attention is critical for brands seeking to cut through the noise and create meaningful connections,” Omnicom Media Group chief intelligence officer Joanna O’Connell said. 

“Importantly, understanding the dynamics of consumer attention within and across channels enhances our ability to build effective omnichannel investment strategies for our clients,” O’Connell said,

The research was conducted using Amplified Intelligence’s attentionTRACE system, which captures facial footage of viewers. Three levels of attention were recorded: active, with the viewers eyes on the ad; passive, with eye on the screen and total attention, with active and passive viewing combined. 

The test uses ads from OMG clients Volkswagen of America, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles Australia,Virgin Australia, the Victoria Government plus a consumer package good marketer and a home improvement brand.

Pixels were placed in spot delivered by the Yahoo DSP and 9.4 million impressions were collected across CTV, desktop and mobile.

"We love to see publishers such as Yahoo go all-in on attention,“ Dr. Karen Nelson-Field, founder and CEO of Amplified Intelligence, said. “Their latest research and activation with attentionPROVE has provided deeper evidence that the systematic patterns we observe are ever-present across all media environments and markets. 

“It is always compelling to see publishers take their valued customers on a journey of education, especially when the goal is to drive better efficiency, highlight quality inventory and cement themselves as a marketplace for omnichannel attention activation,“ Nelson-Field said. “Yahoo has done just this in their latest global work.”

Yahoo said it made a deal with Xperi that will make content from Yahoo Finance, Yahoo Sports and In the Know available in new BMW 5 models.

The content is being distributed via Xperi’s DTS AutoStage Video Service Powered by TiVo.

“From taking a break between errands to sitting in line at school pick-up, drivers spend a significant amount of time idle in their vehicles,” Yahoo chief strategy officer Lara Davis said. “Through this partnership with leading automotive entertainment platform Xperi, we are now able to offer snackable content in a way that fits seamlessly into people’s daily routines, where they already spend time.”

BMW drivers in the United States, United Kingdom, Korea, Italy, Spain, and Germany will have access to Yahoo Finance Video-on-Demand, Yahoo Sports video podcasts, and In The Know video-streaming content at the touch of a button, the companies said.

“Xperi provides a best-in-class in-car connected entertainment experience for BMW drivers,” Jeff Jury, senior VP and general manager of connected car, Xperi, said. “Through partnerships with content providers like Yahoo, we can deliver free premium content across news, sports, and entertainment and offer consumers a personalized viewing experience tailored to their interests.”

LiveRamp and Yahoo said they expanded their relationship, enabling publishers using LiveRamp’s Authenticated Traffic Solution to take advantage of Yahoo’s ConnectID identity system.

The companies expect the combination to unlock additional addressable advertising demand and reach.

“We strongly believe in authenticated addressability, and this partnership enables greater reach that will endure beyond third-party signal loss,” Yahoo chief revenue officer Elizabeth Herbst-Brady said. “We’re making it easier for marketers and publishers to leverage these solutions and maximize results, while simultaneously supporting more seamless transactions across the open Web.” 

The 450 publisher brands that already have adopted LiveRamp’s Authenticated Traffic Solution will be able to integrate with Yahoo ConnectID with minimal effort and better monetize their addressable supply.

“Yahoo is a powerful advocate for authenticated identity, and the connectivity we’re partnering to enable across their DSP and Yahoo ConnectID will help make the post-signal world a better experience for marketers than the world of today,” LiveRamp senior VP, activations and addressability Travis Clinger said. “Marketers and publishers now have even more flexibility to engage, personalize and measure their customer journey.”

With more ad dollars flowing to ad-supported connected TV, a new study aimed to determine if streamers were paying attention to the commercials they are showing and found ways to improve how closely viewers look at advertising.

The study found that nearly every variable affected attention, from the streaming service type to the content viewed, the time of day, the viewer’s age and how frequently an ad is seen.

On a fundamental level, the study, commissioned by media agency Publicis Media and Yahoo found that most consumers were OK with seeing commercials during programming if it meant they’d pay less — or nothing — to watch. According to the study, 82% of CTV viewers expect ads on free streaming services and seven in 10 ad-supported VOD users are at least somewhat satisfied with their CTV experience.

But the data on viewability and attention, collected by TVision through facial recognition and eye tracking, and the information on receptiveness, resulting from surveys conducted by Open Mind Strategy, found that paying customers paid more attention, in some cases.

The study found that ad-supported tiers of subscription services — including Hulu, Peacock and HBO Max — and virtual multichannel video programming distributors (vMVPDs) like YouTube TV, Philo and FuboTV, generated higher attention than commercial-free versions. The attention percentage for vMVPDs was 35% and the attention percentage for ad-supported hybrids was 33%. That was higher than the 30% generated by smart-TV FAST channels (30%) or FAST platforms (28%). 

Similarly, hybrids and vMVPDs drew more attention time than their free counterparts.

But the study found that some FAST apps were among the higher scorers in terms of attention. Xumo actually had the highest attention percentage of the apps studied, with 47%, and Roku was in the top 20 with 34%. 

The Yahoo and Publicis Media study found that younger viewers (under 40) are almost 60% more likely to spend time with hybrid applications than their older counterparts.

Commercials that appeared on content with high engagement — crime dramas, political commentary, game shows — generated higher attention shares, compared to spots that aired in awards shows, sci-fi or action/adventure programming.

The highest-performing commercials featured people or elements from the show being watched.

Commercials needed six to 10 exposures to generate peak attention, but relatively few ads achieved that level of exposure. Meanwhile, being overly repetitive had a negative impact on brand sentiment. Changing the ad creative over multiple exposures had a positive impact on receptiveness, the study found.

And as on other TV platforms, pod position mattered, with the first commercial in a pod getting more attention time than spots in the middle or at the end of a pod.

The study analyzed 66,000 ads from January to November 2022. The TV panel included 5,000 households and 15,000 individuals who received 1.3 million impressions in four CTV environments. The Open Mind Strategy survey had 1,000 respondents. ■

Yahoo said it will add set-top-box data from DirecTV to its demand-side platform, giving users better tools to optimize planning, activation and measurement of digital campaigns across both DirecTV and non-DirecTV inventory.

Yahoo said it is the only omnichannel demand-side platform (DSP) with access to  DirecTV set-top box data, which provides second-by-second information about program viewing in millions of households, in a privacy-protected manner.

The deal follows an agreement in June in which DirecTV made its addressable inventory available on Yahoo’s DSP.

“The addition of DirecTV’s set-top-box linear viewership data adds another diverse, unique data source, enhancing client campaigns across the digital landscape,” Yahoo chief revenue officer Elizabeth Herbst-Brady said. “We have built a multi-sourced data backbone for our advanced TV suite aligned to industry best practices that empowers marketers with the ability to plan and activate more efficiently than ever across linear and connected TV inventory.”

In addition to the data from DirecTV, Yahoo uses data from connected TV providers and publishers, as well as Automatic Content Recognition data from providers including Vizio’s Inscape.

“DirecTV Advertising has been an innovative leader in delivering data-driven advanced TV solutions for its customers for years,” DirecTV chief advertising sales officer Amy Leifer said. “Our partners know the enormous value of our set-top box data, and expanding our partnership with Yahoo allows us to broaden the use into the programmatic space. We’re thrilled to bring our data to a new set of buyers through Yahoo’s platform and further expand access to DirecTV’s seamless addressable and CTV offerings through this partnership.” 

Yahoo was sold by Verizon to Apollo Global Management last year and DirecTV was spun off by AT&T. A lot of DirecTV’s advanced advertising was done via AT&T’s Xandr unit. Xandr was sold by AT&T to Microsoft in June. ■

DirecTV said it reached an agreement making Yahoo the exclusive omnichannel demand-side platform for programmatic buyers looking to buy its omnichannel addressable advertising inventory.

The deal is designed to make it easier for buyers to maximize reach and efficiency while helping DirecTV monetize its inventory by giving it access to the demand across the Yahoo exchange.

DirecTV joins Dish Media and Fios in enabling addressable TV through an omnichannel programmatic platform. With DirecTV, Yahoo is expanding its position by offering live addressable TV inventory programmatically that covers a footprint of 25 million households.

Also: Advanced Advertising: Addressable Ads Are In Demand But Need More Help

Yahoo was sold by Verizon to Apollo Global Management earlier this year. DirecTV was spun off by AT&T last year. A lot of DirecTV’s advanced advertising was done via AT&T’s Xandr unit. Xandr was sold by AT&T to Microsoft earlier in June.

“As linear and digital converge, advertisers need to be able to seamlessly engage with consumers across channels without losing critical measurement, data and campaign visibility,” said Iván Markman, chief business officer of Yahoo. “This partnership with DirecTV Advertising builds on the momentum of our existing addressable TV partnerships, and gives advertisers more reach, transparency and control. We are grateful to these partners for helping to further the industry and create a strong point of access through Yahoo’s platform.” 

DirecTV Advertising inventory will be available in the Yahoo DSP for Q4 2022 campaigns. Yahoo’s omnichannel DSP gives advertisers access to qualified data sets and reaches consumers across all channels, including mobile, desktop, video, native, addressable TV, CTV, DOOH and audio.

“DirecTV Advertising has been a leader in delivering convergent TV solutions for its customers,” said Amy Leifer, chief advertising sales officer of DirecTV. “Working with Yahoo enables us to meet our customers where they are and deliver these solutions in a way that better aligns with advertisers’ omnichannel strategies while reducing friction in the process.” ■

A new study found that the pandemic has made television a bigger part of family life.

Research conducted for Yahoo and ad agency Publicis found that while people may have been isolated from friends and co-workers, they stuck together and gathered around glowing screens. 

The increased screen time at home created the opportunity for 64% of families to spend more time watching shows together and 49% are planning movie nights as a family.

Also: Future Today Study Highlights Family Co-Viewing on CTV

Families also spend more on TV buying hardware and content. The study found that 46% of family subscribed to new streaming services and 26% upgraded their internet services. Just 12% added new cable packages.

Kids got new gear to watch those services, with 47% getting tablets sooner than they would have had there been no pandemic, according to the survey, 36% getting new cell phones and 25% getting TV sets.

The screens in home also were used for kids to stay in touch with friends. Among the parents of children 12 to 17 years old, 44% said they encouraged kids to use devices to stay connected and 41% said they raised their kids’ screen time allowance. 

Parents reported behavior changes that marketers should be aware of, with 63% saying they’re doing more online shopping, 52% using apps to order takeout food and beverage, and 51% using store services such as pick up or home delivery. ■

Yahoo said it expanded its relationship with advertising-supported video on demand service Glewed TV. 

Glewed TV named Yahoo as preferred supply-side platform across connected TV and display advertising inventory. With Yahoo, Glewed TV can access hundreds of leading advertisers, maximizing performance and yield.

Glewed TV has also adopted Yahoo’s identity system, Yahoo ConnectID. With Yahoo ConnectID, Glewed TV advertisers will be able to target inventory in cookie-less environments through Yahoo DSP and Yahoo Exchange.

“Standalone DSPs cannot compare to Yahoo’s full-stack offering,” said Eric Fitzpatrick, VP, strategy of Glewed TV. “Yahoo’s integrated SSP and DSP provides a direct path between demand and supply, driving more efficiency for advertisers, greater yield for Glewed TV, and better transparency and optimization for all. We look forward to continued success and collaboration with them as our preferred SSP.”

“This partnership allows buyers to leverage all that Glewed TV has to offer, from AVOD to display,” said Iván Markman, chief business officer of Yahoo. “With Yahoo’s DSP and our unified, full-stack stack solutions, we are making it easier for advertisers to plan, buy, and target campaigns across inventory types and devices, while helping the world’s leading publishers maximize monetization.”

Last year, Yahoo was sold by Verizon to Apollo Global Management in a $5 billion deal. ■

Yahoo said that Philo, the live TV streaming service, and Chicken Soup for the Soul’s Crackle have selected Yahoo to be a supply-side ad platform.

Yahoo, a media and tech company, was bought by Apollo Global Management last year from Verizon. It said it has accelerated its business in the fast growing connected TV space, increasing its CTV ad revenue 141% last year.

Also: Yahoo and Tubi Expand Buyer Access to CTV Ad Inventory

"We have quickly evolved to meet the new TV landscape," said Iván Markman, chief business officer of Yahoo. “From advertisers to publishers, we are helping our customers meet and exceed their needs in this exciting new area, with a unified ad stack and an end-to-end, integrated ecosystem that delivers sustainable identity, premium inventory and data, and tools that drive performance and efficiency.”

The company said its SSP allows media and inventory owners to increase performance and yield with a streamlined ad tech stack and supports transaction models, from header bidding to guaranteed campaigns. Yahoo also gives media owner access to its ad exchanges and the Yahoo DSP.

“Yahoo continues to be a key partner for us, as demand for ad-supported streaming surges,” said Philippe Guelton, president of Crackle Plus. “Yahoo’s reputation and pedigree within the programmatic video landscape provide us great opportunities to maximize the value of our supply with blue-chip brand partners that have been in business with Yahoo for years.” ■

Yahoo and Fox’s Tubi streaming platform said they expanded their relationship, giving buyers direct access to Tubi inventory and making it easier to buy and plan campaigns using connected TV.

“We’ve seen a significant increase in streaming throughout the past year - with ad-supported content, in particular, generating incredible growth,” said Iván Markman, chief business officer of Yahoo, now controlled by Apollo Global Management. “With the future in mind, our partnership with Tubi gives CTV buyers the tools, inventory, and audiences necessary to execute successful and strategic CTV campaigns and drive meaningful growth.”

Also Read: NewFronts Preview: Tubi Gets Original Shows from Fox

Yahoo DSP customers get a direct connection to Tubi’s streaming inventory, more competitive auction efficiency, advertiser-specific private deal capabilities and increased transparency across Tubi buys.

“The acceleration of CTV introduces greater flexibility into the way advertisers buy streaming media and deliver audience engagement,” said Lisa Herdman, senior VP and executive director of strategic investment at ad agency RPA. "It’s great to see companies like Tubi and Yahoo come together, enabling us to reach engaged audiences at scale as part of our omni channel campaigns.”

Fox acquired Tubi in April 2020 for $440 million. It has grown quickly with Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch predicting it will be a billion-dollar business in a few years.

“As consumers continue to shift viewership to streaming, partnering with demand-side platforms like Yahoo will enable advertisers to buy Tubi inventory more effectively, while maximizing campaign performance across their preferred buying mode,” said Mark Rotblat, chief revenue officer of Tubi. “We are proud to empower advertisers with these capabilities and deliver valuable connections with our in-demand audiences.”

Apollo Global Management said Wednesday that it has completed its purchase of internet icon Yahoo -- formerly Verizon Media -- for about $5 billion, from Verizon Communications. As part of the deal, Verizon will retain a 10% ownership interest in the new company.

Verizon and Apollo first announced the deal in May, and the sale includes ad tech assets.

Verizon bought Yahoo in 2017 for about $4.5 billion and later combined it with another iconic internet brand AOL -- which it purchased in 2015 for $4.4 billion  -- into a new entity called Oath. Oath was renamed Verizon Media in 2018, shortly after the telco took a $4.5 billion write-down on the unit. 

“We look forward to partnering with Yahoo's talented employee base to build on the company's strong momentum and position the new Yahoo for long-term success as a standalone consumer internet and digital media leader,” Apollo partner Reed Rayman said in a press release. “We couldn’t be more excited about this next chapter for Yahoo as we look to invest in growth across the business, including accelerating its customer-first offerings and commerce capabilities, expanding its reach and enhancing the daily user experience.”

Verizon Media CEO Guru Gowrappan will continue as CEO of Yahoo under its new owners.  

“This is a new era for Yahoo,” Gowrappan said in a press release. “The close of the deal heralds an exciting time of renewed opportunity for us as a standalone entity. We anticipate that the coming months and years will bring fresh growth and innovation for Yahoo as a business and a brand, and we look forward to creating that future with our new partners.”

Tech lobby NetChoice, whose members include Google, Twitter, Facebook and Yahoo!, are slamming President Trump for his tweeted threats against social media. 

The President threatened "big action" against Twitter following its fact check tagging of his tweets about mail-in ballots, and the White House signaled that would be coming in an executive order related to social media. 

Related: Trump Threatens to Shut Down Social Media 

In a statement early Thursday (May 28), NetChoice president Steve DelBianco had some choice words for that other President, who he said "is trampling" on the First Amendment" by threatening the fundamental speech rights of social media. 

"Conservatives should be very afraid of future administrations following President Trump’s example to bully social media platforms into suppressing political speech," he said. “By harassing America’s tech industry, the Administration emboldens foreign governments to control online expression,” he said. "Conservatives have truly lost their way if they believe that the government should dictate the terms of online political speech.” 

Republican FCC commissioner Brendan Carr. backing up the President, suggested on Fox News Wednesday that Twitter was trying to have it both ways, publishing its own political speech by tagging the President's tweets while still claiming it should be exempt from  for its treatment of that third-party speech because it was not a publisher but a neutral platform. 

Google also took fire from the President and Capitol Hill Wednesday for, it said mistakenly, deleting Chinese language phrases insulting to the Chinese Communist Party.

Verizon has laid off 7% of workers in its oft-reconfigured and rebranded digital media business, accounting for around 800 employees.

"These were difficult decisions, and we will ensure that our colleagues are treated with respect and fairness, and given the support they need," said Guru Gowrappan, Verizon Media's CEO, in a letter to employees. "I want to be clear that we will continue to scale, launch new products and innovate. We are an important part of Verizon.”

The move marks an unfortunate end of an expensive plan by Verizon to transition from a wireless and wireline focused telecom into a media giant that could compete with Google and Facebook for digital ad money.

Related: Verizon Clears Capital for 5G Investment by Laying Off 10,400 Workers

Along the way, Verizon purchased AOL for $4.6 billion, and Yahoo! for another $4.48 billion. In December, Verizon took a $4.6 billion write-down, acknowledging that its Oath Brands—the initiative wrought by the pricey acquisitions—had failed.

These tough moves don’t mark the end of the line for Verizon in the media business. The company is reportedly still high on components like Yahoo-branded news, sports, finance and entertainment portals, which remain vital content assets under new priorities that built around 5G mobile networks.

Verizon Digital Media Services is reportedly still a priority as well.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the Verizon Media Group had 12,845 employees when it purchased Yahoo! in 2017. It had 11,385 at the end of 2018.

Verizon’s retrenchment comes as AT&T begins to integrate Time Warner Media into its longterm wireless broadband distribution plan, and Comcast ingests U.K. satellite TV company Sky to also transition into a global media power. 

Verizon-owned digital content unit Oath announced a deal to put Yahoo News, Yahoo Sports, Yahoo Finance, Huffpost and Makers on the Roku Channel.

The Oath-branded programming verticals will be part of the Roku Channel’s live news offering, which provides live and linear content, in time for the Nov. 6 elections

For example, Yahoo News election night coverage will feature original reporting, analysis and immediate results coverage, anchored by correspondent Stephanie Sy and national political columnist Matt Bai. They’ll be joined throughout the night by Yahoo News and HuffPost journalists, including Yahoo News editor in chief Daniel Klaidman and HuffPost editor in chief Lydia Polgreen.

The growth of the Roku Channel, which is now available out of platform over the internet, has coincided with the emergence of Roku’s advertising business, which now produces more revenue for the company than streaming device sales.

“News is one of the most popular categories in The Roku Channel,” said Rob Holmes, VP of programming and engagement at Roku, in a statement. “Oath’s news and entertainment properties are proven to be a trusted and high-quality source for consumers. We’re always looking for ways to give our customers access to more voices and adding Yahoo to The Roku Channel accomplishes that.”

“As we continue to expand our live programming, Roku users will be able to tap into a wide range of insightful and entertaining video content, engaging our audiences across our best in class content including news, finance, sports and women’s leadership,” added Joanna Lambert, general manager of finance and tech for Oath. 

Oath, a unit of Verizon that runs Yahoo and AOL, has hired Vanessa Wittman ac CFO, charged with leading the unit through its “next phase of growth.”

RELATED: New Math: AOL + Verizon = Oath

Wittman, who will report to Oath CEO Tim Armstrong, has previously been CFO at Dropbox, Motorola and March & McLennan.

Former Oath CFO Holly Hess is moving to a newly created role at Verizon, where she will lead Verizon’s previously announced $10 billion cost savings initiative, and report to Verizon CFO Matt Ellis.

“Vanessa is an exceptional leader with singular experience, and she will be a great partner to help drive Oath's vision, strategy, and operations to reach our long term goals,” Armstrong said in a statement. “Vanessa joins Oath at an exciting point in our journey to build a differentiated company creating the future of mobile and the internet in combination with Verizon. I want to thank Holly Hess for being a founding force at Oath, as well as a driver behind the original Verizon and AOL deal. She made significant contributions to Oath and we look forward to continued collaboration with Holly in her new role at Verizon.”

Yahoo’s free live stream of Sunday’s NFL matchup between the Baltimore Ravens and the Jacksonville Jaguars proved to be a less-than-perfect experience for some consumers who were trying to watch the game on various platforms.

Yahoo carried the game, which kicked off at 9:30 a.m. ET from Wembley Stadium in London, on a wide range of platforms, including web browsers, TV-connected devices (Apple TV, Roku players and Roku TVs, Fire TV devices, Xbox 360 and Xbox One consoles, Android TV devices, and Vizio and Samsung smart TVs. It’s also being carried on iOS and Android mobile devices via several apps, including Yahoo Sports, Tumblr, AOL and go90, among others, and has been optimized for the Google Chromecast streaming adapter.

Jacksonville blew out the Ravens, 44-7.

Streaming issues didn’t appear to be widespread (the author was able to view it with no problem on a laptop as well as mobile web on an iPad), but several users were logging complaints about problems on Sunday morning via Twitter – another indication that live streaming of big events at scale remains a key struggle.

Among complaints, Andy Ross, an NFL agent, said the stream was “very blurry” for him, and urged Yahoo to make a half-time adjustment:

Hey @Yahoo this stream of the @NFL game is very blurry. Looks like u need 2 make a 2nd half adjustment as well #JaguarsvsRavens

— Andy Ross (@adross77) September 24, 2017

Phillip Swan, publisher of TVAnswerman.com and a regular critic of live TV streaming, was following along and retweeting issues that other consumers were posting on Twitter, and offered this conclusion:

When you sit down for an NFL game, you shouldn't have to worry if the picture will go awry. #nflstream

— Swanni (@SwanniOnTV) September 24, 2017

Meanwhile, the Yahoo Fantasy Care (@YahooFantasyCC) Twitter handle, was busy responding to customer issues on Sunday morning. Here’s a sampling of those complaints:

@YahooFantasyCC Why can’t I use chromecast to watch the game? Using the iOS app.

— Lucas Wiseman (@Lucas_Wiseman) September 24, 2017

Yahoo Fantasy Care suggested that the viewer might need to close the app and reload it, or reset Chromecast to reestablish the connection.

So why can't I watch the @Jaguars/@Ravens game on my @YahooSports app?? And don't tell me it's because I need an updated version...

— Mike Walpole (@walpeezy) September 24, 2017

In response, Yahoo Fantasy Care asked if the viewer had closed the app entirely and cleared the app cache.

Other complaints that cropped up on Twitter:

@YahooFantasyCC streaming issues on Fios. Constant pauses and buffering.

— Richard Repas (@RichRepas) September 24, 2017

Both on safari and on the roku app ! Still having issues. Commentary was talking about River Thames, video was still on the punt.

— Frank mcgill (@fm___) September 24, 2017

@YahooSports app not working well on Apple TV. Interruptions in the stream, window keeps shrinking to small size in large screen tv. Awful.

— Robert Brosseau (@Bob_Brosseau) September 24, 2017

Verizon’s 2015 acquisition of AOL and its pending one for certain assets of Yahoo fit into plan to kick the tires on a new over-the-top video play, Lowell McAdam, chairman and CEO, said Monday at the J.P. Morgan Global Technology, Media and Telecom Conference in Boston.

“The platform will be in place to do an over-the-top sort of play…and we’ll go out and test it,” McAdam said. “But we have not committed to a launch date or anything. We’re going to see how this evolves.”

Verizon, which recently retooled its free, ad-based OTT service, go90, is reportedly working on a national OTT TV service that would feature “dozens” of channels. Such a move would put Verizon in the virtual MVPD category alongside several others, including Sling TV, DirecTV Now, fuboTV, PlayStation Vue, Hulu and YouTube TV.

REPORT: Verizon to Join Virtual MVPD Race: Report

McAdam didn’t spell out exactly what Verizon has in mind, but pointed to other OTT efforts already underway, including a digital joint venture with Hearst, its exclusive NFL deal to offer NFL games on mobile devices, and a recent deal to offer National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) games on go90.

RELATED: go90 Nets NWSL Deal

As far as how OTT fits into the AOL-Yahoo strategy, McAdam pointed out that Tim Armstrong, AOL’s CEO, has been focused on several content “pillars” that include news, sports, finance, entertainment and lifestyle.

McAdam also said Verizon remains optimistic about using 5G as a wired replacement/alternative for gigabit-class wired broadband service and, generally, how 5G can square with Verizon’s out-of-footprint TV and broadband strategy.

“As we have built that architecture, 5G, on a fixed broadband perspective was the best application for us,” he said. “We did not need to wait for all of the mobile standards, we didn't have to wait for it to be…crammed into an iPhone or a Samsung Galaxy device. You can use basically your home router that you have today, just put some different chips in it. We’re working with Intel on that…and you are then a broadband provider and a TV provider outside of your franchise footprint.”

He also downplayed concerns that 5G, as a fixed wireless technology used in millimeter wave spectrum, would require line-of-sight and would have trouble dealing with obstacles such a trees and buildings.

McAdam warned against locking into wireless “design principals from the 2000s,” holding that the cost for small cells have come down and that antenna technology has improved.

He noted that the expectation was that Verizon was expecting less than 1,000 feet of propagation to deliver gigabit speeds, but found that field trials and efforts in South Korea have shown that “we're seeing substantially more than that 1,000-foot propagation.”

“So, we're feeling very bullish on it at this point, and we'll be able to say more about that after we go through the trials over the summer,” McAdam said.

 RELATED: Verizon Gets a Fix on 5G Trials

Oath will be the new brand name of a unit of Verizon that will combine AOL with Yahoo, Business Insider first reported Monday.

Tim Armstrong, AOL’s CEO, soon followed by confirming word of the coming brand change, including the new logo, via Twitter, while also noting that more details will be revealed this summer:

Billion+ Consumers, 20+ Brands, Unstoppable Team. #TakeTheOath. Summer 2017. pic.twitter.com/tM3Ac1Wi36

— Tim Armstrong (@timarmstrongaol) April 3, 2017

Verizon originally agreed topurchase Yahoo’s Internet business last July for $4.83 billion, but the price on the pending deal was recently reduced by $350 million amid high-profile data breaches at Yahoo.

RELATED: Verizon, Yahoo Agree to Slash Merger Price by $350M

Verizon last week announced a new corporate structure ahead of the closing of the proposed Yahoo deal. Among the moves, Marni Walden was named EVP for Media and Telematics, a unit that will include the AOL and Yahoo assets.

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and co-founder of that body's Cybersecurity Caucus, praised the indictment of Yahoo's alleged Russian hackers Wednesday (March 15), but was clearly troubled by the involvement of Russian government entities and still unhappy with Yahoo.

“I applaud the Department of Justice for naming names and bringing criminal charges against the individuals responsible for the Yahoo hack, including two individuals who are on the payroll of the Russian government," he said in a statement.

"We commend Yahoo and Google for providing exemplary cooperation while zealously protecting their users’ privacy," said U.S. Attorney Brian Stretch in announcing the indictments.

Warner was not ready to join in that characterization.

“I continue to believe Yahoo had a responsibility to be more forthcoming in publicly reporting this breach sooner than it did, and both the public and private sectors often move too slowly to address the growing threats posed by cyber criminals," he said.

He said the indictments were a reminder to American businesses that they need to invest in "robust cyber defenses," as well as to be "more willing to share threat information, and be much more upfront with consumers when their defenses fail."

He also said that hackers needed to be pursued "wherever possible to the fullest extent of the law, whether the motivation was financial or political."

The Intelligence Committee is in the midst of an investigation of allegations that Russia intervened in the U.S. presidential election in favor of eventual winner Donald Trump.

“Today’s indictments shed a light on the close and mutually beneficial ties between the cyber underworld and Russia’s government and security services, and the extent to which Russia leverages these cyber activities to multiple ends: commercial, financial, and geopolitical," he said, "This simply underscores the complexity and the urgency of the task facing the Senate Intelligence Committee in its bipartisan investigation into Russia’s interference in America’s 2016 elections.”

The Justice Department said Wednesday (March 15) that it has indicted two members of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), the successor to the KGB, an intelligence agency of the Russian Federation, and two outside hackers, in the theft of about 500 million Yahoo accounts in 2014.

The two Russian officials, Dmitry Dokuchaev and Igor Sushchin, "protected, directed, facilitated and paid criminal hackers [Alexsey Belan and Karim Baratov] to collect information through computer intrusions in the United States and elsewhere," the Justice Department said.

“Cyber crime poses a significant threat to our nation’s security and prosperity, and this is one of the largest data breaches in history,” said Attorney General Jeff Sessions in announcing the multicount indictment by a grand jury of the Northern District of California. “But thanks to the tireless efforts of U.S. prosecutors and investigators, as well as our Canadian partners, today we have identified four individuals, including two Russian FSB officers, responsible for unauthorized access to millions of users’ accounts. The United States will vigorously investigate and prosecute the people behind such attacks to the fullest extent of the law.”

"People rightly expect that their communications through Silicon Valley internet providers will remain private, unless lawful authority provides otherwise," said U.S. Attorney Brian Stretch for the Northern District of California. "“Working closely with Yahoo and Google, Department of Justice lawyers and the FBI were able to identify and expose the hackers responsible for the conduct described today, without unduly intruding into the privacy of the accounts that were stolen. We commend Yahoo and Google for providing exemplary cooperation while zealously protecting their users’ privacy.”

The indictment comes as members of Congress are looking into both that hack, another Yahoo! breach and allegations the Russians hacked Democrats' email accounts to influence the 2016 election.

Yahoo! agreed to cut the price Verizon is paying to buy the company by $350 million in light of its two breaches.

The hackers targeted "accounts of Russian and U.S. government officials, including cybersecurity, diplomatic and military personnel," according to the indictment. In addition, they targeted "Russian journalists; numerous employees of other providers whose networks the conspirators sought to exploit; and employees of financial services and other commercial entities."

Ironically, the FSB unit that the indicted officials worked for is the point of contact for the FBI in Moscow for cybercrime matters.

Yahoo Inc. is gearing up for change amid its pending sale of assets to Verizon, disclosing in an SEC filing that it will reduce the size of its board, including the departure of Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, and change the name of the company to Altaba Inc.

Per the 8-K document filed Monday (January 9), the size of the board will be cut to five members following the closing of the deal -- Tor Braham, Eric Brandt, Catherine Friedman, Thomas McInerney and Jeffrey Smith. Brandt, the former EVP and CFO of Broadcom, will become chairman of the new, smaller board.

In addition to Mayer, also exiting the current board of directors will be Yahoo co-founder and “Chief Yahoo” David Filo, former chairman of Tribune Publishing Eddy Hartenstein, former CEO and chairman of Novellus Systems Richard Hill, and former chairman of the board of Intel Corp. Jane Shaw. Yahoo board chairman and founder of Webb Investment Network Maynard Webb will become Chairman Emeritus of the board.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the new name is a combo of “alternate” and “Alibaba,” reflecting assets that the company will retain, including its stake in Alibaba, post-deal.

Those changes are coming as Yahoo pushes ahead with its $4.38 billion deal with Verizon.

RELATED: Verizon Agrees to Buy Yahoo for $4.83B

Recent disclosures of data breaches at Yahoo impacting more than 1 billion accounts have cast some doubt on that deal, and whether Verizon might move to scuttle it or seek a lower price. Verizon has held firm on its position that it will continue to evaluate the situation before reaching any final conclusions.

Casting another dark cloud on its proposed sale to Verizon, Yahoo Inc. confirmed Wednesday that it believes an unauthorized third party, in August 2013, stole data associated with more than 1 billion user accounts.

The latest admission follows an earlier one in which Yahoo said data from more than 500 million accounts, including customer e-mail addresses, birth dates, phone number and encrypted passwords, were stolen.

Yahoo noted that the latest data breach was discovered after it law enforcement provided the company with data files that a third party claimed was Yahoo user data.

RELATED: Breached: What happened when hackers shut down Liberty Global’s broadband in the Netherlands

“Yahoo believes this incident is likely distinct from the incident the company disclosed on September 22, 2016,” the company said.

The latest data breach admission plants another seed of doubt around Verizon’s $4.8 billion deal to acquire Yahoo for $4.8 billion. Speculation following the earlier hacking revelation was that Verizon might try to cut the purchase price by as much as $1 billion. Verizon has held that the data breach could be a material event

RELATED: Verizon Agrees to Buy Yahoo for $4.83B

Verizon said its position on the pending deal remains unchanged following this week’s revelation.  

"As we've said all along, we will evaluate the situation as Yahoo continues its investigation. We Will review the impact of this new development before reaching any final conclusions,” Verizon said in a statement.

UPDATE:Bloomberg reported Thursday morning that Verizon is exploring a price cut or a possible exit from the proposed deal. 

Regarding the latest breach discovery, Yahoo said stolen user account information may have included names, email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, hashed passwords (using MD5) and, possibly, encrypted or unencrypted security questions and answers. Yahoo noted that the investigation showed that the purloined data did not include passwords in clear text, payment card data, or bank account information.

“Payment card data and bank account information are not stored in the system the company believes was affected,” Yahoo said.

Based on its ongoing investigation in the hacking matter, Yahoo said it believes an unauthorized third party accessed the company’s proprietary code to learn how to forge cookies.

Yahoo said it is encouraging its users to review their online accounts for suspicious activity and to change their passwords and security questions. Further, it’s recommending the use of a Yahoo Account Key, an authentication tool that, it says, eliminates the need to use a password on Yahoo altogether.

Verizon Communications added about 36,000 Fios TV customers in the third quarter, reversing a loss of 41,000 video customers in Q2 spurred by a six-week strike over the summer, while it tried to calm  investors worried about its wireless resale agreements with cable operators and its pending $4 billion purchase of Internet icon Yahoo.

The Fios TV growth was expected – analysts’ consensus estimates were for 28,000 additions. The telecom company also added about 90,000 Fios Internet subscribers in the third quarter, outpacing analysts’ expectations of 62,000 additions.

Verizon chief financial officer Fran Shammo, who announced his intention to retire at the end of the year, fielded questions from analysts about its wireless Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) agreements with Comcast and Charter. Comcast said it activated its MVNO deal last October and plans to have a wireless product by the middle of next year. Charter Communications, which had Verizon MVNO rights via its purchase of Time Warner Cable in May, said it too has activated those rights.

The MVNO deal are the result of the 2011 sale of wireless spectrum by SpectrumCo (which included Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks).

An MVNO would allow Comcast and Charter to basically resell Verizon’s wireless service under their own brand. It would also allow them to utilize the Verizon wireless infrastructure for a hybrid cellular-WiFi offering.

In a research report just prior to Verizon’s release of Q3 results Thursday, MoffettNathanson principal and senior analyst Craig Moffett wondered if the MVNO deal gave an advantage to the cable operators, by allowing them to offer a similar quality service at a reasonable price.

Moffett continued that it is more likely that the MVNO deal could lead to a later alliance between cable and Verizon.

“Wouldn’t the simplest reading instead be that the MVNO agreement speaks to building bridges, not moats?” Moffett wrote.       

An alliance could have obvious advantages – Verizon could profit from cable’s imbedded wireline infrastructure and the cable companies could benefit from Verizon’s best in class wireless service.

Shammo, in what is likely to be his last quarterly earnings call at Verizon, said its eyes were open when it did the deal severbal years ago.  

“This is a wholesale agreement, and as Lowell [McAdam, CEO] and I have repeatedly said we would do the agreement again today if we had to. It’s a good agreement for V W— it’s a wholesale agreement,” Shammo said. “I can’t speak to the economics of what they’re going to do. The wireless pie continues to grow, everyone wants to get a piece of this pie, [and] the industry itself will continue to grow around that pie. It’s not like I believe the industry with the carriers will lose share to anyone. I just think there’s going to be more opportunity for growth.”     

While the wireless pie gets bigger, analysts and investors are wondering whether the purchase price of Yahoo may shrink. Verizon agreed to buy the Internet search icon in July for $4.8 billion, but that was before Yahoo revealed it had been the target of a massive data breach. In September, Yahoo said more than 500 million accounts had been hacked, including customer addresses and passwords. The scope and cost of the breach is still to be determined, but some have speculated it could result in Verizon shaving as much as $1 billion from the purchase price.

Shammo reiterated Verizon’s earlier statement that it believed the breach could be a material event, but said the companies’ lawyers were just starting to look into it.

“We are still evaluating what it means for this transaction. This was an extremely large breach that has received a lot of attention from a lot of different people. We have to assume it will have a material impact on Yahoo,” Shammo said, adding that lawyers had their first call about the matter Oct. 19.

“From what I understand, that's going to be a long process," Shammo continued. “Unless Yahoo comes up with different processes, it’s going to take some time to evaluate this. Until then, we haven’ t reached any final conclusions around this issue.”    

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) has asked the SEC to investigate Yahoo! over the hack of more than a half billion accounts.

Yahoo! announced the 2014 breach last week, but Warner wants to know what executives knew and when they knew it.

Warner, cofounder of the Senate Cybersecurity Caucus, wants to know whether Yahoo! complied with federal securities laws to keep the public and investors informed about breaches.

"“Data security increasingly represents an issue of vital importance to management, customers, and shareholders, with major corporate liability, business continuity, and governance implications,” wrote Warner, a former tech exec. executive. “Yahoo’s September filing asserting lack of knowledge of security incidents involving its IT systems creates serious concerns about truthfulness in representations to the public. The public ought to know what senior executives at Yahoo knew of the breach, and when they knew it.” 

But Warner wants the SEC to dig deeper. "[S]ince published reports indicate fewer than 100 of approximately 9,000 publicly listed companies have reported a material data breach since 2010, I encourage you to evaluate the adequacy of current SEC thresholds for disclosing events of this nature," he said.

Yahoo! said Thursday (Sept. 22) it had uncovered a hack of info that might have included "email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, hashed passwords (the vast majority with bcrypt) and, in some cases, encrypted or unencrypted security questions and answers," though it said it does not think the stolen data included banking or

Warner immediately called for passage of breach notification and said he is currently working on a bill to create a "comprehensive, nationwide and uniform data breach standard."

Yahoo has tapped Hulu as the “preferred partner” for Yahoo View, a free, ad-supported TV-watching site that features delayed access to full-length episodes of select TV shows alongside associated clips, recaps and content from Tumblr.

Yahoo, which has been bulking up on video distribution deals even as it moves ahead with the sale of its operating business to Verizon, said Yahoo View is an extension of its existing distribution deal with Hulu, and will offer “thousands” of TV episodes, films, and clips for free.

Featuring content from Hulu, Yahoo View this fall will offer five episodes of original series from ABC, NBC, and FOX (eight days after original broadcast) and other network sitcoms, day-after clips, as well as full seasons of anime and Korean drama.

The site launched to U.S. audiences today. Mobile web and mobile app versions of Yahoo View are in development.

The site is currently promoting shows such as ABC’s The Family, NBC’s Grimm, and Fox’s Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and is tucking shows and other content into several genres, including Anime, Comedy, Family and Kids, International, Documentaries, News and Information, Drama and Realty and Game Shows.

The site also includes a “beyond the episode” section that allows visitors to “block” enhanced content that might reveal show spoilers. Yahoo View also has a picture-in-picture element that allows them to browse while watching.

“Video is an important part of Yahoo’s strategy and we’re committed to delivering the best digital video content to our users.  To date, we’ve streamed amazing experiences across sports, finance, and news,” Phil Lynch, VP and head of media partnerships, said in a statement. “This partnership with Hulu is a natural extension of that strategy, bringing the best of TV & entertainment content to our lifestyle vertical.”

Verizon Communications finally got its long-simmering deal for Yahoo done, capping what has quietly amounted to a buying binge over the past seven months in which the telco has snapped up seven companies for nearly $10 billion in cash and stock amid its pivot toward mobile video and connectivity.

Verizon agreed to buy Yahoo for $4.8 billion, besting some big names among reported early bidders, such as AT&T as well as Quicken Loans founder and Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert. The price reflects how far the once-mighty search company had fallen: In 2008, Yahoo turned down an offer from Microsoft to buy the entire company for $45 billion. Eight years earlier, in 2000, Yahoo had a market capitalization of around $130 billion.

CEO Lowell McAdam’s new focus on mobile video and connectivity has led to the eclectic list of recent acquisitions. They range from digital video content providers like Complex — purchased as part of a joint venture with Hearst Media called Verizon Hearst Media Partners — to fleet management company Fleetmatics.

‘GROWTH CHALLENGED’

In a more traditional vein, Verizon also is buying XO Communications’s fiber business for $1.8 billion in a deal that should close in the second half of 2017.

MoffettNathanson principal and senior analyst Craig Moffett said in a research note that the Yahoo deal, especially, signals a change in overall strategy as the wireline business continues to soften.

Verizon lost a net 41,000 Fios TV customers in the second quarter amid a seven-week labor strike, and Fios customer gains overall have been dwindling steadily over the past few quarters. AT&T has also seen its U-verse TV customer losses mount: It subtracted 391,000 video customers in the quarter, more than the 384,000 net subscriber losses in the prior period.

Per Moffett: “The telecom industry is growth-challenged. Both AT&T and Verizon have now reported meaningfully negative organic growth. The Yahoo acquisition must be seen in this light. Verizon is seemingly acknowledging the end of an era; wireless penetration growth is over, and so too, seemingly, is ARPU growth from consumers for whom real disposable income has been stagnant for decades. The monetization of incremental data use through higher consumer ARPUs hasn’t worked out and IoT just doesn’t portend enough carrier revenue to be the next big thing. With this as a backdrop, Verizon is turning to an entirely new source of revenue for the wireless business: advertisers. It will take years to find out if the strategy pans out.”

McAdam, though, told analysts on the July 26 call that Verizon believes these seemingly disparate purchases mesh to form a cohesive strategy focused on bringing video content to younger consumers by any means possible.

The XO Communications buy helps build the foundation: deep fiber assets, such as 40 metro fiber rings in several major cities, will provide a fat pipe for services. The XO deal also includes an agreement to license wireless spectrum that will provide Verizon with a clear path to 5G deployment, which McAdam said he considers “wireless fiber.”

“With wireless fiber, the so-called last mile can be a virtual connection, dramatically changing our cost structure,” McAdam said.

At the core of the so-called video evolution are the changing consumption habits of younger consumers toward mobile and digital content.

“Over the past several years, we have dramatically expanded the ways in which we can deliver content wherever and however the digital customer wants it,” McAdam said. He cited offering large and small bundles of linear content through wireline Fios TV; over-the-top content delivery; online content and publishing and advertising technology via AOL; mobile video content through its go90 offering; and its joint venture with Hearst.

MOBILE MEDIA MOVES

With the Yahoo, deal, according to McAdam, Verizon is “scaling up to be a major competitor in mobile media.” Yahoo’s portfolio of online properties and mobile applications attract more than 1 billion monthly active consumer views. Yahoo also brings additional online content, through Yahoo Sports, Yahoo Finance, Yahoo News, email through Yahoo Mail and expands the overall company’s analytics and ad-tech capabilities. Verizon’s $4.4 billion purchase of AOL last year brought in such content producers as The Huffington Post, TechCrunch and Engadget.

Next-gen 5G technologies and standards are still in the development phase, but Verizon is already looking to deliver high-speed broadband speeds over wireless connections next year.

“We see the stars aligning very quickly when it comes to the 5G future,” Lowell McAdam, Verizon’s CEO, said Tuesday on the company’s Q2 earnings call, noting that the FCC has completed its radio specs, opening the door to testing of technical components.

Verizon’s work around 5G and millimeter wave spectrum is “preparing us for a fixed commercial wireless fiber launch in 2017,” he said, noting that the FCC’s recent approval of Verizon’s lease agreement with XO Communications provides a “clear spectrum path for 5G deployment.”

Update: Fran Shammo, Verizon's EVP and CFO, clarified later that Verizon views "2017 as a development year for 5G," but allowed that the FCC ruling allowing the use of leases "could accelerate" that timing. "But...to get to a commercial launch and actually start to generate revenue, I think that will come in either very late 2017 or early 2018," he said, noting that Verizon is not including any of that in its current financial guidance. .

“I think of 5G, initially as, in effect, wireless fiber,” McAdam said. “With wireless fiber, the so-called last mile can be a virtual connection dramatically changing our cost structure." 

He noted later that about half the costs of deploying Fios is in the home, with the drop being the most expensive outside the home. Verizon isn’t providing hard numbers yet on 5G deployment, but McAdam noted the home routers cost the same but don’t need the ONT (optical network terminal) and that Verizon can add 5G “for very little incremental cost” as it densifies 4G networks with small cells.

“We expect there to be a significant cost reduction” with 5G, McAdam said.

Verizon has been testing 5G in Dallas (with Ericsson and Nokia) and in New Jersey and Virginia and has been seeing speeds above 1 Gbps at over 500 yards or less – more than enough capacity for up to six Ultra HD TV signal, six virtual reality units, and numerous tablets and other mobile devices.

McAdam said Verizon’s now in the process of moving that work into the field, where it can start to cover 200-home developments. It will also look at some rural environments.

Further out, Verizon will be pursuing mobile use cases for 5G that support “massive” scale for the Internet of Things and low latency services and apps, he said.

McAdam also offered updates on Verizon’s work with cities such as Boston, where it’s moving ahead with “one fiber strategy” initiative for wireless and Fios-based services. Verizon, he said, is in similar talks with other cities, including San Francisco.

“No longer are discussions solely about local franchise rights, but how to make forward-looking cities more productive and effective,” he said, adding that Verizon’s XO deal, which includes 40 metro fiber rings in major cities, is key to this strategy.

And while the recent work stoppage impacted Verizon’s Fios results in Q2, the rate of growth is expected to “return to a normal run rate in the third quarter,” Fran Shammo, Verizon’s EVP and CFO, said.

Q3 “will be a more positive quarter for us,” Shammo said, also predicting that Fios growth will be “back in stride by the fourth quarter.”

Verizon execs also added color to the company’s proposed $4.83 billion acquisition of Yahoo’s operating business, holding that it will help Verizon scale up and become a bigger player in mobile media.

Verizon sees “tremendous opportunity in the digital video marketplace” with that deal, McAdam said. “Content  creators and advertisers are hungry for alternatives as the market expands for both in-home and mobile consumption…Verizon intends to be a significant player in this space." 

He said there are opportunities in areas such as sports, where Verizon can stream games not just on Fios but also over AOL and Yahoo properties as well as via go90. “We view this as a waterfall of content  moving down through our different properties.”

McAdam said Verizon’s not yet to put a hard figure on the synergies it expects to generate from the Yahoo deal. “They're meaningful; let me put it that way." 

Verizon is expected to announce the $4.8B purchase of Yahoo's Internet assets early Monday, ending what has been months of speculation on the future of the online icon.

Verizon was said to be close to a deal for Yahoo's Internet business on Friday, but left the door open for the transaction being canceled. Sunday reports in The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg News said a deal was all but done. 

Verizon is expected to purchase Yahoo's core Internet business  and combine it with its AOL unit. Yahoo would keep its stakes in Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba and in Yahoo Japan.

Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, said that if Verizon does close the deal, it will likely trigger a "firestorm" of opposition from consumer groups like his.

"[A]s an already big data-fattened Verizon (AOL, Millennial Media, etc) grabs even more consumer information, [the deal] becomes ground zero in the broadband ISP privacy fight," said Chester.

John Eggerton contributed to this report.

The second round of bidding for Yahoo should close this week, with Verizon Communications reportedly lobbing in a $3 billion offer for the one-time Internet icon’s Web assets.

That’s roughly half the value some analysts placed on those properties three months ago, and further proof that telco Verizon either has money to burn or truly believes that digital advertising will be its future growth engine.

Other bidders were expected to participate in the second round — CNBC’s David Faber reported some bids topped $5 billion, but included real estate and other assets not part of the Verizon bid. A third round of bidding on Yahoo, which put itself on the block in February, is also expected.

Most analysts are expect Verizon to end up with Yahoo because they believe that the telephone provider has the best chance of turning around the once-proud company. That bids are coming in at less than half the $4 billion to $8 billion range targeted back in February is a testament to the decline of the business.

STARK FORECASTS

Yahoo’s bankers released a “sale book” in April that estimated 2016 revenue would fall 15% and earnings would dip more than 20%. The book also estimated that Yahoo would need to shed about 1,500 employees, ending the year with about 9,000 workers.

Verizon has had a soft spot for ancient Internet icons — it purchased AOL last year for $4.4 billion— and talk is that AOL chief Tim Armstrong is behind the telco’s enthusiasm for Yahoo. According to some reports, Armstrong believes Yahoo’s digital ad technology will mesh well with AOL’s existing ad business.

Verizon chief financial officer Fran Shammo didn’t want to say much about the Yahoo speculation at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Technology, Media & Telecom conference in London, though he did say the telco is serious about its “mobile-first” strategy.

Within the next three to six months, Shammo said, Verizon intends to “cross-pollinate” its products, including integrating go90 and AOL to help it broaden viewership.

“When you get down to it, viewership matters because viewership drives advertising dollars which drives the top line revenue,” Shammo said. “Yahoo has viewership. We’ll see whether we do move forward or we don’t move forward.”

MoffettNathanson principal and senior analyst Craig Moffett has been ambivalent to a Verizon-Yahoo pairing ever since the telco expressed interest in the assets.

“Generally speaking, we think Verizon’s strategy to turn to advertisers rather than users for the next leg of wireless revenue growth makes sense, even if we admit to having a hard time judging their probability of success,” Moffett wrote in April.

He added that although it probably isn’t a great idea to buy a shrinking asset (Yahoo) in a growing segment (digital ads), taking into consideration expected synergies and the relatively low price, it can’t hurt.

Shammo was most excited about opportunities on the mobile front, especially in short-form content. Verizon bought a 24.5% piece of shortform video pioneer AwesomenessTV in April and he said that its go90 mobile offering will focus on video snippets rather than longform content.

“I want to fill up the 10 times a day that you have 10 minutes free,” Shammo said. “I want you to come to my platform and digest 10 minutes of content from go90.”

But to pay for those 10 minutes, viewers are subjected to ads, and that’s where Yahoo could fit in.

While mobile ads are on the rise — Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers partner and Internet guru Mary Meeker values the mobile ad market at about $22 billion — clients have complained that consumers aren’t watching them. That is backed up In Meeker’s June Internet Trends report, which claims 93% of mobile users are considering purchasing ad blockers and 81% mute video ads.

VIDEO ADS ON THE RISE

The push has been to make mobile ads more watchable, and that’s where Yahoo could come in.

Yahoo has sharpened its focus on short-form video and says video advertising is one of its fastest growing business segments. According to a blog around Yahoo’s May NewFronts, chief revenue officer Lisa Utzschneider said video advertising was up 64% in 2015 and continues to grow. Yahoo is focusing on producing more ad content — the ad unit produced 54% more video in 2015 than in 2014 and viewers are eating it up. Compared to a year ago, Yahoo video viewers are consuming 55% more content and spending 85% more time on average with it.

“That translates into meaningful opportunities for marketers,” Utzschneider said in her blog post.

The six-week long strike at Verizon Communications will drive broadband subscribers into negative territory in the second quarter, chief financial officer Fran Shammo said at an industry conference Tuesday.

About 46,000 Verizon wireline employees went on strike on April 13 over pay and healthcare issues. The walk-out lasted about six weeks, with the unions involved and Verizon management agreeing to a tentative pact in May. The contract still needs to be ratified by the rank and file, which is expected on June 17.

At the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Technology, Media & Telecom conference in London on Tuesday, Shammo said that because most of the striking employees were in maintenance and installation units, new service installations were drastically reduced during the work stoppage.

“Net additions of wireline will be negative for the quarter,” Shammo said. “Our employees will be back to work, we're doing installations for the month of June, so I don't actually know the exact number that we'll end in the quarter because now we're in catch-up mode. Because we did have a pipeline built during the strike, it's a matter of how much we can get to that pipeline, but I would expect broadband [additions] to be negative.”

Shammo wouldn’t comment directly on a report in the Wall Street Journal that Verizon was readying a $3 billion second round bid for Yahoo’s web assets, but said that the company has embarked on a mobile-first strategy with its purchase of AOL last year and the launch of its go90 free mobile video service.

Shammo said in the next three-to-six months, Verizon intends to “cross pollinate” its products, including integrating go90 and AOL to help it broaden viewership.

“When you get down to it, viewership matters because viewership drives advertising dollars, which drives the top line revenue,” Shammo said. “Yahoo has viewership. We’ll see whether we do move forward or we don’t move forward.”     

Yet another front has opened in the tug-of-war among computer companies, Congress and the Obama Administration over cybersecurity versus privacy.

Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) were feeling the love from tech companies and others Thursday (May 19) for introducing the Stopping Mass Hack Act, which is targeted not at shady offshore Web denizens but U.S. law enforcement.

The senators introduced the bill to block recently approved changes to government surveillance rules that would allow the government, with a single warrant, to "hack an unlimited number of computers" if those computers had been "affected by criminals," even without letting the computer owners know the government was accessing their computers. Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.) and Jon Tester (D-Mont.) are original co-sponsors of the bill.

The senators say those changes should have been debated by Congress. They go into effect Dec. 1 unless Congress steps in.

The Justice Department requested the change to Rule 41 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, which the Supreme Court approved. The main changes, according to the Senators, are the single warrant for multiple -- potentially millions -- of searches, and allowing remote searches when law enforcement doesn't know the location of a device.

“The government hacking proposal that will automatically go into effect unless Congress passes the Stopping Mass Hacking Act represents a serious expansion of law enforcement powers," said Kevin Bankston, director of New America’s Open Technology Institute, "yet Congress has never had a chance to consider the complex issues raised by such a significant change to the law. Unless Congress acts now, these new government hacking rules will grant the Justice Department dangerous and unprecedented authority to hack millions of Americans, many of whom may only be guilty of being the victim of a malicious cyber attack themselves.”

Ross Schulman, Open Technology Institute senior counsel, added, “We thank Senators Wyden and Paul for introducing this important bill." New America funders include Google, Netflix, Comcast and Dish.

“We welcome Senators Wyden and Paul’s efforts to prevent this highly controversial rule change from taking effect," said Computer and Communications Industry Association president Ed Black. "They recognize that the far-reaching implications of the government’s proposed changes merit the full attention of their colleagues in Congress. There are constitutional, international, and technological questions that ought to be addressed transparently before such a broad rule change.

CCIA's members, in addition to Google, Netflix and Dish, include Amazon, Yahoo, eBay, Microsoft, and Sprint.

The line for bidders to purchase Yahoo’s assets is getting longer, with Verizon Communications and Google among those expected to put forth offers for the Internet pioneer.

According to reports, enthusiasm for the assets hasn’t waned, even as bankers have circulated a “sale book” that shows a troubled company with dwindling revenue and a need to pare its workforce.

According to a report by Re/Code, the sale book shows that Yahoo estimates 2016 revenue will decline by 15% and earnings will plunge more than 20%. The book also states, according to the website, that Yahoo expects to shed around 1,500 employees, ending the year with about 9,000 workers.

Yahoo has been under the microscope for years and put itself up for sale in February after the company shelved plans to spin out the Internet business. According to reports, Yahoo is looking for $10 billion for the assets, but Verizon, which is expected to launch a bid, currently values them at about $8 billion. Verizon purchased dial-up pioneer AOL last year for about $4.4 billion, and AOL chief Tim Armstrong would likely be tapped to run the Yahoo assets along with Verizon executive vice president and president of product innovation and new businesses Marni Walden if a deal was reached. Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, who has come under fire as she has been unable to turn around the Internet pioneer in the three years she’s been at the helm, is not expected to remain with the company in a Verizon sale.

The Yahoo assets include its Internet search engine and properties like Tumblr, Bright Roll and Flury.

In addition to Verizon – chairman Lowell McAdam said earlier this year at an industry conference that the assets could be attractive – and Google, other possible bidders include Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba, Softbank  and Time Inc. private equity firms Bain Capital and TPG also are considering bids, according to reports, either alone or with strategic partners.

First round bids are due April 11, according to reports.   

Yahoo has set an April 11 deadline for preliminary bids for its core Web business and Asian assets, including its stake in Alibaba Group and Yahoo Japan, according to The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter.

The paper said Yahoo intends via the process to reduce a field of about 40 potential suitors to a smaller group, noting that the timing on the preliminary bids could put Yahoo in position to close a deal by June or July.

The WSJ said Yahoo’s bankers have been in contact with several potential buyers, including Verizon, IAC/InterActiveCorp., Time Inc., private equity firms TPG and KKR & Co., adding that Microsoft has held talks with PE firms about helping with a deal – a situation that Re/code reported on last week, while also noting that Comcast could be among the potential “strategic” bidders for a portion of Yahoo’s assets.

Verizon has shown some interest in Yahoo’s assets. Speaking earlier this month at an investor conference, Fran Shammo, Verizon’s CFO, said his company would look at all acquisition opportunities, including Yahoo, but said it was too early to make a firm commitment. “I don’t think anybody knows what’s under the hood yet [at Yahoo]…That’s just an opportunity that we’ll look at,” he said then.

Last month, Yahoo announced a streamlining effort that will include the sale of “non-strategic” assets and a workforce reduction of 15%, or about 1,600 jobs.  

As part of plan to boost profits and focus its business, Yahoo announced a streamlining effort that will include the sale of “non-strategic” assets and a workforce reduction of 15%, or about 1,600 jobs.  

Yahoo said it’s exploring the divestiture of assets that include non-strategic patents and  the sale of some real estate, believing that the efforts will bring in between $1 billion to $3 billion in cash.

The expected workforce reduction is being paired with the shutting down of five offices in Dubai, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Madrid, and Mila. Most of those changes will occur in Q1 2016, but will be complete by the end of 2016.  Yahoo expects to end the year with 9,000 employees and fewer than 1,000 contractors, a move that will save $400 million in annual expenses.

Yahoo also said it is pushing forward with previously announced plan for a reverse spin, with a separation of its Alibaba stake a "primary focus." 

Yahoo also outlined other parts of its strategic growth plan, noting it will prioritize its user base of more than 1 billion monthly active users.

On the consumer end, Yahoo’s business will consist of three platforms: Search, Mail and Tumblr;  and four verticals: News Sports, Finance and Lifestyle.

For advertisers, it will lean on two “core offerings”: Gemini (search and native ads), and Brightroll, the programmatic ad platform Yahoo acquired in November 2014.

Additionally, Yahoo will refine its focus on mobile search, calling it the company’s’ “biggest opportunity” in that part of its business.

Yahoo will also invest more in its Mavens (mobile, video, native and social) strategy, noting that revenues from that segment reached $1.6 billion in 2015, a 45% increase.

Among its simplification efforts, Yahoo, which recently shut down the Yahoo Screen streaming service, will “consolidate some Digital Magazines under one of our four core verticals, while others will be shut down. It will also exit some legacy product areas including games and smart TV.

"Today, we're announcing a strategic plan that we strongly believe will enable us to accelerate Yahoo's transformation," Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo, said in a statement.  "This is a strong plan calling for bold shifts in products and in resources. We are extremely proud of the billion dollar plus business we have built in mobile, video, native, and social. Our strategic bets in Mavens have enabled us build an entirely new, forward-leaning business of tremendous scale and growth in just three years. The plan announced today builds from that achievement and will dramatically brighten our future and improve our competitiveness, and attractiveness to users, advertisers, and partners."

"The Board is committed to the turnaround efforts of the management team and supportive of the plan announced today. We have tremendous respect for the thousands of Yahoos who work very hard to make the world a better place," added Maynard Webb, Yahoo's chairman of the board. "The Board also believes that exploring additional strategic alternatives, in parallel to the execution of the management plan, is in the best interest of our shareholders. Separating our Alibaba stake from our operating business continues to be a primary focus, and our most direct path to value maximization. In addition to continuing work on the reverse spin, which we've discussed previously, we will engage on qualified strategic proposals."

Yahoo announced the plan as it issued Q4 2015 results. It posted Q4 revenues of $1.27 billion, up from $1.25 billion in the year-ago quarter, and earnings of 13 cents per share. Analysts were expecting 13 cents on $1.19 billion in revenues. 

Yahoo shares were down 41 cents (1.41%) to $28.65 each in after-hours trading Tuesday. 

I am old enough to remember when Yahoo! stood for something (Yet Another Hierarchically Organized Oracle) and not just the final word of Major Kong in the last scene in Dr. Strangelove (or was that “Wahoo?”). Nevertheless, the latest moves of Yahoo! the Internet company – holding off on the planned spin-off of its stake in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba and essentially spinning off the rest of its business – doesn’t invoke the sense of enthusiasm that once permeated the online pioneer.

There was a day when Yahoo! [the exclamation point was needed because it was the only way they could trademark the name; Yahoo was already taken] was at the top of the Internet heap, heading a long line of Web portals with names that have been forgotten for the most part – Lycos, Excite, Web Crawler, Ask Jeeves, etc. Yahoo! was different, a little cocky, but that attitude was backed up by strong technology and the sense that the potential for the Internet was limitless.

But over the last few years, the purpose of that exclamation point has faded as the missteps have far outweighed the hits. In the TV space, where Yahoo! came late to the original content party but with an open wallet, the disappointments have been particularly strong.

In October it scrapped its most high-profile scripted series – former NBC cult comedy Community – and canceled basketball comedy Sin City Saints and sci-fi spoof Other Space, taking a $42 million write-down in the third quarter to boot.

On its third-quarter conference call, Yahoo! chief financial officer Kenneth Goldman said Yahoo! came to the conclusion that it couldn’t make money on original content. He left the door open for future shows, but wasn’t that encouraging.

“We're not saying we're not going to do these at all in the future, but what we are saying is, in three cases at least, it didn't work the way we had hoped it to work and we decided to move on,” Goldman said on the call.

Other ventures, like its exclusive streaming venture with the National Football League, seemed promising at first, but less so after closer scrutiny. Yahoo! said it attracted 15.2 million unique viewers for an Oct. 25 game between the Buffalo Bills and Jacksonville Jaguars in London. But later there was some doubt as to how long those viewers watched, which affected whether the online giant made any money back from its reported $15-to-$20 million investment.

More recently, Yahoo! had planned to avoid a potential $10 billion tax hit to its $32 billion stake in Alibaba by spinning off the interest in a separate company called Aabaco. Those plans were scrapped after the IRS declined to sign-off on its tax-free status. That forced Yahoo! into a corner and resulted in the latest scenario.

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer has pledged to tighten Yahoo!’s focus and “prioritize investments to drive profitability and long-term growth,” what some have said could be code for more layoffs. But truthfully, there already has been a massive talent exodus at the company over the past few years.

The spin, which some say could take a year to complete, gives Mayer more time to pretty up the assets for sale. It won’t be easy. Companies like AT&T, Verizon Communications, Google, Microsoft and News Corp. have been singled out as potential suitors, but none of them will likely pay a high price for the assets. With a market capitalization of about $34 billion, separating out the Alibaba stake and its Yahoo! Japan unit (a joint venture with Japanese wireless company Softbank valued at about $5 billion) leaves a negative valuation for the rest of the company. By some estimates, Yahoo!’s core business has a private value between $2 billion and $8 billion, but is still a far cry from the company’s heyday during the Internet bubble, when it was valued north of $100 billion, or even in 2008, when the company had a $56 billion valuation.

The sad part is that Yahoo!’s core business has some strong components – Yahoo! Finance, Yahoo! Sports and Yahoo! Mail – and has about 1 billion global users. Its mail service has about 81 million users in the U.S. alone. Surely that is worth more than a couple of billion dollars.

In a research note before the spin became official, Pivotal Research Group analyst Brian Wieser wrote that Yahoo! has a big enough customer base and a strong sales force that could give a new owner time to develop new products while the core business continues to pump out revenue.

“The big question is whether anyone would actually show up with a meaningful bid,” Wieser wrote. “We can understand why a buyer looking to attach their existing assets to a large media property might look at Yahoo! only reluctantly vs. alternative strategies.”

Therein lies the rub. If some deep-pocketed company or investor sees the value in that kind of reach, maybe there will be a reason for some enthusiasm at Yahoo! after all.

If Verizon has any interest in jumping into the rumored sweepstakes for Yahoo’s Internet business, its CFO is keeping those plans pretty close to the vest.

“Yahoo? Who’s that?” Fran Shammo, Verizon’s CFO and EVP said in a joking response to  question about the M&A scuttlebutt from UBS analyst John Hodulik Monday during the firm’s Global Media and Communications Conference. “I think it’s way too premature to talk about Yahoo…their Board and investors have not decided what they're going to do with that asset. I think right now they are trying to figure out exactly what they are going to do.”

The question came up because The Wall Street Journal reported last week that the Yahoo board  is meeting to consider shedding its Internet properties.

But Shammo said Verizon would be willing to look at those assets to see if there’s a “strategic fit and it makes sense for our shareholders” and get a good return value out of it. “But at this point it’s way too premature to talk about that one,” he repeated.

Still, Verizon, through its recent acquisition of AOL,  has demonstrated that it has an appetite for deals that involve other large, Internet-facing businesses.

Shammo also said it’s too early to discuss the early results involving Go90, Verizon’s new “mobile-first” OTT video offering that launched on October 1. 

“We really just started to advertise it in more mass media here starting Black Friday, so it’s really early stages here,” he said.

But Shammo did offer up some things that surprised and disappointed the company in the early going.

The surprise is that go90 has access to about 10,000 titles, he said, but acknowledged that the service had some issues with its search engine in the early going.

It “was maybe a disappointment that we didn't go out with the right search engine in the beginning. But now we've fixed that,” he said, noting that go90’s clipping and sharing feature “is just starting to take off.”

Shammo said he anticipates that Verizon will release some numbers around go90 next year. “But it is still in its infancy stage. We're still working through some early startup issues. But right now we're pretty pleased with what we're seeing.”

He also expects go90 to start monetizing on the advertising front using AOL’s platform next year.

Shammo also outlined a set of monetization models that will come into play for go90, including sponsored data – Verizon Wireless subs, for example, will get the data for free to stream ad-supported video. But Verizon, he added,  will tread carefully into that arena “because that opens up net neutrality issues.”

Go90’s also looking into new types of premium content and some video that is bought by viewers on a  pay-per-view basis and delivered using bandwidth-friendly LTE multicast technology.

Shammo was also asked about Verizon’s interest in using LTE-Unlicensed technology, which  is mired in controversy over concerns by cable operators and others that LTE-U will trample on WiFi.

Shammo said Verizon has not yet deployed LTE-U, but does not foresee any issues. “There is a lot of work being done at the FCC. We're helping to do trials with the FCC to put down some of the claims that LTE unlicensed will interfere with WiFi, which is absolutely not true,” Shammo said. “It’s actually complementary to WiFi, so we're doing trials with the FCC to prove that out."

Yahoo isn’t making any public predictions on how many viewers around the world will stream this Sunday’s matchup in London between the Buffalo Bills (3-3) and the Jacksonville Jaguars (1-5), but the online giant says it believes it has enough capacity nailed up, and access to more if it needs it, to handle anticipated viewing levels. 

“We do know the scale of NFL games on a broadcast basis, so we’re preparing for that sort of audience,” Ken Fuchs, vice president, products at Yahoo, said. “There's been a tremendous amount of preparation that's gone into ensuring the quality of the experience meets our expectations and the fans' expectations…We have a number of tricks up our sleeve, so we can expand capacity as we need.”

Fuchs also points out that Yahoo’s got plenty of experience in delivering live streams and one-off events. Its agreement with Live Nation for live concerts, for example, pumped out 135 million streams in its first year. “We do have significant experience around doing live [streaming],” he said.

Yahoo will stream the game for free to most regions of the world via a wide range of platforms, including at Yahoo.com, via the Yahoo Sports app, Yahoo Screen, Tumblr, and on TVs via devices such as the Chromecast, Xbox One and Xbox 360, Amazon Fire TV, TiVo boxes, certain Vizio, Sony and Samsung connected TVs, and Roku players, and the Apple TV. The game, which is scheduled to kick off at 9:30 a.m. ET from Wembley Stadium in London, will still be available on regular TV (via CBS) in the local Buffalo and Jacksonville markets.

“It’s a historic event and game,” Fuchs said. “The reason for that is it’s the first-ever global, free, all-access, digital-only live stream of an NFL game.”

Yahoo views it as a way to reach a sizable fan base and to bring the game to new fans of the NFL around the world.

It’s also being positioned as a special opportunity for advertisers, which, Fuchs said, will be able to retarget Sunday’s streaming audience “and get a lot of information you get in digital advertising that you don’t get through traditional broadcast.”

Yahoo announced Friday that more than 30 brands, including American Express, Microsoft, Cadillac, City, KFC, Papa John’s, Snickers and Toyota are on board to advertise for the global live stream. Dairy Queen has signed on as the exclusive pre-game and halftime show sponsor on Yahoo, while Toyota will sponsor the halftime show.

Fuchs confirmed that Yahoo sold out its inventory for the game, but declined to discuss how much Yahoo paid for the rights to the game or how much advertisers are paying. According to The Wall Street Journal, some advertisers were able to buy spots for about half of the $150,000 per spot Yahoo was seeking, and that Yahoo paid $20 million for the rights.

“We’re very happy with where we are,” Fuchs said, noting that Sunday’s live stream is part of a long-term relationship between Yahoo and the NFL. “Selling out the game is a great indicator of the health of the effort." 

Yahoo will air the sixth season of cancelled NBC comedy series Community in March, the online service said during its Television Critics Association Tour presentation.

Yahoo Screen will premiere two episodes of the series each week beginning on March 17, according to Yahoo officials. The series, which stars Joel McHale, Gillian Jacobs and Chevy Chase, was cancelled by NBC last year after five seasons.

Yahoo will produce 13 episodes of the series, according to network officials.

A group of distributors, vendors and content providers are putting their collective weight behind the Streaming Video Alliance, a group that will strive to create an open architecture for online video, including benchmarks for video quality and product interoperability.

The initial group that ’s backing the SVA comprises highly recognizable names from the pay TV industry, including Comcast, Viacom, Charter Communications and Liberty Global (see sidebar), but a couple from the online video world — primarily Netlfix and Google — are noticeably absent.

While the SVA will focus on architecture creation, best practices and recommending standards designed to facilitate the scaling of online video, it’s “not looking to be a standards body,” Dan Rayburn, a founding member of the SVA and an executive at StreamingMedia.com, said.

Rayburn said the SVA is starting to pore over pieces of the video ecosystem and expects to make some decisions by early 2015 about which elements to focus on first. Some potential candidates include best practices around metadata and 4K streaming.

Rayburn also expects that the SVA will announce additional members, including more content owners, in January.

SVA membership won’t be free. The group will publish its fee schedule early next year.

Whether Netflix, Google and YouTube, which tend to do their own thing, will eventually join the SVA crew is hard to say.

“We’ve had discussions with them,” said Rayburn, a recognized streaming-video industry expert who is on board to help promote the organization and communicate its aims. “We’ve had conversations with pretty much all of the largest content owners you can think of.”

On Board With the SVA

The initial membership slate of the Streaming Video Alliance represents various parts of the ecosystem.

Alcatel-Lucent
Charter Communications
Cisco Systems
Comcast
Epix
Fox Networks
KT
Level 3 Communications
Liberty Global
Limelight Networks
MLB Advanced Media
Qwilt
Telecom Italia
Telstra
Ustream
Wowza Media Systems
Yahoo

Community is set to bring on Paget Brewster (Criminal Minds) and Keith David (Enlisted) for the new 13 episode season six series, Yahoo and Sony announced today. 

Produced by Krasnoff-Foster Entertainment and Harmonious Claptrap, in association with Universal Television and Sony Pictures Television, season 6 will air exclusively on Yahoo in early 2015.

Frankie Dart (Brewster) joins the group as a consultant looking to bring positive change to the school, while Elroy Patashnik (David) plays a retired scientist trying to reinvent himself.

The half-hour comedy series follows Greendale Community College members, including returning stars Joel McHale, Gillian Jacobs, Danny Pudi, Alison Brie, Jim Rash and Ken Jeong.

Looking to speed up its online video strategy, Yahoo on Friday said it has acquired RayV, an Israel-based company focused on the mobile sector.

Financial terms weren’t disclosed, but the deal comes as Yahoo tries to focus on growing video users and monthly streams, P.P.S. Narayan, Yahoo’s VP of cloud platforms and services, said in a blog post announcing the deal.

While Yahoo is just “getting started” on the video front, “[t]his deal demonstrates our dedication to accelerating our video strategy and boosting our underlying technology infrastructure in the space,” he added.

RayV, founded in 2006, offers a platform designed to deliver high quality streaming for its online and mobile content partners. Company co-founders Omer Luzzatti, RayV’s CTO, and Ofer Shem-Tov, its chief architect, are among those joining Yahoo, and will be based at its R&D center in Tel Aviv, Narayan said.

“We believe Yahoo will be a perfect fit for our people and capabilities, as Video and Mobile offerings are a central part of Yahoo’s vision,” RayV said. “Yahoo’s global scale and broad content base, combined with its amazing leadership and appetite for success, creates an ideal environment for our team to thrive and be pushed to the next level.”

The Wall Street Journalreported in May that Yahoo was in talks to buy RayV, noting that Yahoo, which was among those interested in buying Hulu last year, would look for the acquisition to help it flesh out the technical underpinnings required for an online video offering and put Yahoo in a better position to compete with Google’s YouTube. 

Jacki Kelley, formerly CEO of IPG Mediabrands North America and president of global clients, has joined Bloomberg Media as COO for Media, overseeing TV, Web, mobile digital video, radio print and live events. She will serve as deputy to CEO Justin Smith across the entire Media Group, including Web, mobile, Bloomberg TV, print magazines and live events.

She comes aboard Sept. 1 and will be based in New York. “This is a coup for our organization and important talent milestone as we implement our new strategy," Smith said in a release. "Jacki is a force of nature – a perfect a mix of shrewd business acumen and creativity with a clear track record of success."

At IPG, she is credited with helping snag the Microsoft account, adding to a roster that already includes ExxonMobil, Sony and BMW.

Before overseeing integrated tools, technologies and services for North American clients at IPG, Kelley's resume included posts at Yahoo!, and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. She got her start at USA Today, where she became SVP of Advertising.