ON YAHOO! DOING CONTENT...NOT (Part II)

"TRY, TRY AGAIN..."

Here we go yet another time...Yahoo!'s Media Group Head Lloyd Braun is the subject of a feature New York Times article discussing the company's disinclination now to do TV-style content.  And as in my post a few days ago, the media both online and off, is having a field day with the story.

In my earlier post, I hoped that  both types of media would ease off Lloyd Braun, having only been on the job at Yahoo! from his previous Hollywood gigs since November of 2004. 

But having read Saul Hansell's NYTimes interview with Mr. Braun, I find myself shaking my head at some of his quotes, given that he's spent almost a year and a half at Yahoo!  Some examples:

"I didn't fully appreciate what success in this medium is really going to look like," he said. "This is not about creating one-off hits like in my old business. That is not going to create a sustainable competitive advantage over the long term..."

""I now get excited about user-generated content the way I used to get excited about thinking about what television shows would work..."

""I realized I have to check my ego at the door for a moment, and forget whatever expectations people had about me because of my former life, and really take a hard look at who should this business be built for the long term — a business that is not dependent on a series of expensive one-off's to survive..."

""Embracing things like blogs and sharing of content between individuals" is at least as important as "coming up with the next mega-online event," he said. "The Internet is such a niche content environment that the broadcast model does not really work..."

I appreciate Mr. Braun's candor and recognize that it takes courage to make these comments so publicly. 

But it is surprising to find such a gap of understanding within Yahoo!, especially since the company has been at the forefront amongst the GYMAAAE companies at making Web 2.0 "social web" acquisitions.

I mean at Yahoo! itself, all one has to do is go talk to the founders of Flickr and Del.icio.us, amongst other "Web 2.0" companies Yahoo! has previously bought,  to figure out how this medium is different than the world of television and movies.

Anyway, it's better now than never.  And as a long-time Yahoo! shareholder, I find myself still agreeing with Daniel Rosensweig, the company's Chief Operating Officer, who says in the article:

"Yahoo's intention had always been to combine content from users, media companies and to a lesser extent its own creation."

Make it so, Yahoo!...make it so.