Netflix, Hulu and ... Yahoo? Why Marissa Mayer Wants Original TV Programming

Marissa Mayer may soon take a break from acquiring companies and instead acquire some TV shows.

Yahoo is "close" to ordering four high-quality online TV series with budgets of as much as a "few million dollars" per episode, according to a recent report in the Wall Street Journal. This would effectively put Yahoo in competition with a different group of Internet companies, including Netflix, Hulu and Amazon

The Internet giant has offered original programming in the past, though for the most part it has come in the form of shorter web series. The decision to invest more on TV caliber programming is likely part of the company's larger goal to double down on quality online video. Yahoo announced an exclusive deal for the entire video catalogue of Saturday Night Live around this time last year and followed that up a few months later with the hiring of news anchor Katie Couric Read more...