Yahoo Announces Men's Slate of Shows at NewFront Presentation
Video has had a transformative effect on Yahoo, which has gone from being a search engine steamrolled by Google to America's second most-visited video site (according to comScore). At Wednesday's Yahoo Digital NewFront presentation in New York City, Yahoo executives announced that the company would soon launch an entire slate of shows aimed at men, as well as other new titles.
Celebrities are frequent visitors to the newfront stages, and Yahoo didn't disappoint. Katie Couric showed up early in the presentation to interrupt Ross Levinsohn, Yahoo's executive vice president of global media, with a dismissive "Blah blah blah blah," before asking him "What the hell is Yahoo?"
Couric was also there to promote "Katie's Take," an online show that will debut on May 1, and will see her exploring health, nutrition, parenting, and wellness topics.
One of the presentation's highlights was a visit by Michael Ian Black and Ken Marino, who gave a taste of "Burning Love," a reality show parody that will debut this spring.
Yahoo already has a slate of programs aimed at women, and in the presentation speakers announced that they would renew five shows for a second season and launch three news ones: "Style Studio with Rebecca Minkoff," "The Yo Show" with Michael Yo, and a new version of "In the Dressing Room with Cat Deeley." New women's shows will air this spring.
A men's slate of six programs will soon join the women's slate. Men's shows will include a talk show hosted by Jeff Goldblum, and shows that focus on stunts, sports, style, superfans, and explosions. The men's programming should arrive in June and July.
Yahoo also announced "Dancing with Myself," an '80s jukebox comedy from the creators of the Broadway musical Rock of Ages, and gave glimpses at the previously announced "Electric City" (from Tom Hanks) and "Cybergeddon" (from Anthony Zuiker).
"This is a bit of a watershed moment," Levinsohn told the audience of advertising and marketing executives. We've had one shift, where people began watching video programming online. Now it's time for the next shift, he said: the dollars.
Or, as Mike O'Brien, star of Yahoo's "7 Minutes in Heaven," said while rapping a Yahoo-centric parody of "Empire State of Mind: "Potential Yahoo advertisers: sign!"
Related Articles
The search giant continues its winning online video ways with Hollywood talent and television partnerships.
30 Apr 2013
The big networks generate buzz each year with their fall TV season announcements. Online video publishers like Streamin' Garage and MyDamnChannel are of two minds as to whether it's time for OTT to do the same.
09 Aug 2012
Online video, social media, Madison Avenue, and Hollywood combine for a stimulating newfront.
27 Apr 2012
New York will host 19 events in 2 weeks, where content creators announce upcoming online shows to the ad community.
23 Apr 2012
Providing context is one way that Yahoo hopes to stand out against YouTube, as both pursue original premium content strategies.
10 Feb 2012
Television and movie content has finally reached the biggest screen in the house. Now what?
27 Jan 2012