NEW YORK—Yahoo Sports and C15 Studio have announced the launch of the Yahoo Sports Network, a free, ad-supported streaming TV channel available on leading FAST services, as well as yahoosports.tv.

Operated by C15 Studio, Yahoo Sports Network is now available on LG Channels and Sling Freestream. The two companies said that it will be launching on Samsung TV Plus, Amazon Fire TV, Fubo, Plex, Prime Video, and The Roku Channel over the coming weeks.

C15 Studio operates a network of premium sports channels on behalf of sports organizations like Formula 1, DP World Tour (European Tour, Golf), and MotoGP, who launched the MotoGP Channel in partnership with C15 Studio earlier this month.

“Our video business is growing rapidly – across the number of shows we produce, the hours of content we deliver, and most importantly, the viewership by fans,” said Ryan Spoon, president of Yahoo Media Group. “We are excited to officially launch the Yahoo Sports Network and make it widely available across leading FAST services.

At launch, Yahoo Sports Network features more than 60 hours of original programming a week from shows covering a range of sports, including the NFL, NBA, MLB, combat and more.

This includes live programming such as The Ariel Helwani Show, Yahoo Sports Daily, Inside Coverage, and Yahoo Fantasy Forecast, as well as recorded episodes of The Kevin O’Connor Show, Football 301, Network with Rich Kleiman, and other fan favorites. The channel is an all-access pass to some of the biggest stories and most trusted voices in sports, delivering 24/7 expert commentary and analysis from Yahoo Sports and its partners.

The channel is also available on yahoosports.tv, a new comprehensive home for Yahoo Sports video. In addition to distributing Yahoo Sports Network, yahoosports.tv houses highlights from most every major sports league, as well as content from partners such as OneFootball and Motorsport Network. This gives fans a one-stop shop for Yahoo Sports video programming on desktop computers and mobile devices, Yahoo reported.

Netflix has announced that it is expanding its global programmatic ad offerings by partnering with Yahoo DSP. This will enable brands to buy Netflix advertising through Yahoo programmatically.

The offering is expected to be available later this year in all 12 of Netflix’s ad-supported countries.

"This is another milestone for the ads business, giving our global clients even more optionality in their buying,” Netflix President, Advertising Amy Reinhard said in a blog post. “Our focus has always been to offer the best advertising experience to our clients and members, and we’re excited to continue to give advertisers the ability to reach the most engaged and attentive ad-supported viewers. Yahoo DSP will join The Trade Desk, Google Display and Video 360, and Microsoft as Netflix’s programmatic partners. Most recently, we enhanced our offering to include expanded targeting, allowing advertisers to target more than 100 interests in over 17 categories, including life stages. We also now allow clients to incorporate their first-party data to match against our Netflix ads audience for behavioral insights and targeting.”

Josh Palau, vice president of performance media at Pfizer, responded to the news in a statement, saying: “Love seeing two of my favorite brands making our industry even better. This is a great opportunity to combine Netflix’s scale and quality content with Yahoo’s data-driven targeting and measurement and aligns perfectly with our approach of working with direct, transparent supply path optimization and premium streaming partners like Netflix.”

“We’re excited to bring Netflix’s premium ad-supported inventory to Yahoo DSP clients, offering access to highly engaged audiences in a trusted, brand-safe environment,” added Alia Lamborghini, senior vice president of global revenue at Yahoo DSP. “This integration makes it easy for advertisers to incorporate Netflix into their broader CTV strategies without added complexity. By expanding our premium supply and enabling unified planning, activation, and measurement, we’re helping marketers drive stronger performance and greater impact.”

NEW YORK—Yahoo Sports and NBC Sports have announced a $1 million fantasy football sweepstakes that Yahoo is hoping will increase usage of the redesigned Yahoo Fantasy app and NBCU is hoping will boost audiences for its NFL coverage on the broadcast network and its streaming platform Peacock. 

“We’re thrilled to celebrate our redesigned Yahoo Fantasy app by giving fans the chance to win big this season,” said Ryan Spoon, president of Yahoo Sports. “This partnership with NBC Sports will make playing Yahoo Fantasy even more exciting and add extra anticipation to one of the best weekends of the year.”

“Fantasy football news, insights and analysis have long been a core element of NBC Sports’ digital offering,” said Damon Phillips, senior vice president, NBC Sports Digital and Emerging Business. “Partnering with Yahoo Sports for the $1 million sweepstakes shines an additional spotlight on NBCUniversal’s unprecedented Week 1 NFL schedule and we’re excited to add another element of gamification for fans on kickoff weekend.”

Registration for the sweepstakes ends at 3am ET on Thursday, Sept. 5. A winner will be announced this fall.

By playing in a private Yahoo Fantasy Football league, users can enter for a chance to win $1 million. Users can earn additional entries if players on their fantasy team score a touchdown in a Week 1 NFL game broadcast on NBC and/or Peacock. The NBC and Peacock opening weekend slate features three primetime games:

• Thursday, Sept. 5, 8:20pm ET: Baltimore Ravens at Kansas City Chiefs (NBC and Peacock), NFL Kickoff Game
• Friday, Sept. 6, 8:15pm ET: Green Bay Packers vs. Philadelphia Eagles (Peacock), Peacock Exclusive NFL Game from São Paulo, Brazil
• Sunday, Sept. 8, 8:20pm ET: Los Angeles Rams at Detroit Lions (NBC and Peacock), Season Debut of Primetime’s #1 Show: Sunday Night Football

As part of the announcement, NBC and Yahoo laid out some of the rules for the competition. 

If eligible Yahoo Fantasy users have both a quarterback and wide receiver on their fantasy teams who connect for a touchdown in a Week 1 game broadcast on NBC and/or Peacock, those users will receive two bonus entries. Bonus entries can be earned across multiple Yahoo Fantasy leagues and teams, but there is a limit of one bonus entry per player per touchdown. This means if users have an eligible player on two Yahoo Fantasy teams, they will only get one bonus entry for each touchdown he scores. There is a limit of eight total entries per person – one automatic entry for signing up for the sweepstakes and up to seven bonus entries dependent on NFL player touchdowns, they reported. 

The sweepstakes is one of several new experiences in the redesigned Yahoo Fantasy app, which features a bold new look and easy-to-use interface to help fantasy players have more fun and set a winning lineup, faster, Yahoo said. 

Registration for the sweepstakes ends at 3am ET on Thursday, Sept. 5. A winner will be announced this fall.

To sign up for a private Yahoo Fantasy Football league and enter the sweepstakes, visit here. For more information, visit the official rules here.

SAN FRANCISCO—Samba TV has unveiled a new solution that it says will help political advertisers better reach shifting voting audiences at the regional, state, and national level throughout the 2024 political season. 

Samba TV’s Real Time Political Audiences facilitates the next day activation of digital campaigns to reach key voter groups with time-sensitive political messaging. Using the solution advertisers can build customized political ad exposure segments and launch their targeted campaign the next day, the quickest turnaround in the industry, Samba said. 

Yahoo and TelevisaUnivision, two early adopters of the new solution, have integrated Samba TV’s innovative near-real time political audience segments to better empower political advertisers on their platforms.

“In one of the most consequential elections in history, coupled with a deeply fragmented media landscape, marketers are facing one of the most challenging political seasons to reach voters,” said Samba TV co-founder and CEO Ashwin Navin. “What worked in the past no longer applies. The strategy of relentlessly hitting the same audience with political ads on traditional TV is outdated. In today's landscape, candidates must embrace a holistic approach that integrates traditional TV with real-time targeting across streaming and digital platforms to reach voters who are consuming media in entirely new ways. This tactic is vital for political advertisers seeking a competitive advantage in a pivotal election where the stakes are high for control of the White House, Congress, and regional seats of power."

“This election cycle will be more challenging than ever to reach voters,” added national media research chief innovation officer Adam Wise at Samba. “As we are well underway with the presidential campaigns, it is crucial to integrate a comprehensive understanding of your audience into your targeting strategy, merging trusted first-party sources such as Samba TV with other campaign inputs.”

In a statement explaining their early adoption of the product, TelevisaUnivision senior vice president of product management Brian Lin said that “Hispanics are one of the biggest and most influential voter groups in the U.S. As political advertisers look to further engage with our audience, we look forward to partnering with Samba TV to enable a more effective way to inform Spanish-speaking voters across the country.”

“As we’re heading into the heat of election season, campaigns need to reach relevant voters with their message at the right cadence,” said Yahoo senior vice president of product strategy and management Adam Roodman. “With Samba TV’s Real Time Political Audiences, political advertisers leveraging Yahoo DSP are able to optimize audience reach while controlling frequency to maximize results.”

NEW YORK—A new survey of U.S. TV marketers finds that better measurement and data are among their top priorities when making advanced TV ad buys and looking for partners for their campaigns.  

For the survey, Yahoo Advertising polled 300 advanced TV marketers to understand what matters most to them when buying Advanced TV. 

"Advanced TV represents a significant opportunity for advertisers," said Elizabeth Herbst-Brady, chief revenue officer of Yahoo. "It combines the reach and impact of traditional television with the precision and efficiency of digital advertising. The growth of this sector is shifting the advertising landscape, allowing marketers to connect with their audience in more targeted, meaningful ways."

Key survey results included the finding that marketers placed measurement at the top of their priorities when investing in advanced advertising. 

When deciding on a programmatic ATV partner, survey respondents cited the three most important capabilities as measurement (58%), unique identity and audience capabilities (56%), and access to unique linear TV data and platform cost efficiencies (47%). 

Automatic optimization tools (40%) and unique supply (35%) rounded out the top five preferences. Of these, 22% rated access to unique linear TV data as their number one priority, closely followed by measurement at 21%.

In terms of factors influencing the decision to increase spend on ATV, access to premium inventory came in at the top with 58% respondents favoring it. This was followed by targeting capabilities (52%), and cost efficiency (50%). Other important considerations included audience reach (49%), brand safety (47%), ad performance optimization (41%), flexibility (35%), and consolidated/holistic measurement (26%).

In releasing the survey data, Yahoo  stressed that advanced TV is a cornerstone of the Yahoo DSP, which provides advertisers with a comprehensive programmatic buying platform spanning digital, addressable linear and streaming TV, enabling them to reach more addressable households more efficiently.

It also reported that the Yahoo DSP has first-to-market unique data set partnerships with VIZIO’s Inscape and DIRECTV Advertising, direct-to-publisher supply connections with leading networks, and access to tens of millions of CTV and addressable linear households that ensure advertisers can maximize their digital TV investments. 

In addition, the Yahoo DSP offers vital ad performance measurement and attribution tools assisting advertisers in efficiently allocating budgets and optimizing campaigns.

As streamers race to roll out FAST channels and ad supported services, a new survey from Yahoo and Publicis Media suggests that consumers are paying the most attention to ads that are placed in subscription services and that brands need to develop more finely honed CTV ad strategies. 

The results in a joint research study titled “CTV Ad Attention & Receptiveness” are important for an industry that has tried to right its finances by offering more ad-supported services. While the shift towards advertising has created new revenue streams, it also raises serious questions about the value of those ads and their effectiveness in engaging consumers, many of whom originally switched to streaming services as a way of avoiding heavy ad loads on cable and broadcast TV. 

The study noted that AVOD is rapidly gaining traction and is projected to reach 50% of the U.S. population, offering brands a significant opportunity to connect with consumers. Emarketer reports that ad spending on paid subscription services is expected to increase by 51% to $9.48 billion in 2023, while CTV ad spending as a whole will exceed $26 billion in the same year. 

That means that brands must optimize their CTV strategy to capture attention and positive brand sentiment in an increasingly competitive market, the researchers said, adding that to stand out, advertisers must understand the key variables that impact consumer attention and receptiveness to ads on CTV and develop effective strategies to optimize campaigns.

To answer some of those questions, the study investigated four ad-supported streaming app types: paid-subscription-based services that were either Hybrid (Hulu, HBO Max, Paramount+, Peacock, Discovery+, Disney+, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video) or vMVPD (FuboTV, YouTubeTV, Sling, Philo, DirecTV Stream), and non-subscription-based streaming apps that were either FAST (Tubi, Pluto, Roku, Crackle, Vudu, Xumo) or Smart TV FAST Channels (Amazon Freevee, Vizio’s WatchFree, Samsung TV Plus, LG Channels).

Overall the study found that ad attention is higher for more "intentional" paid subscription services. Viewers tend to pay more attention to ads on applications that are paid or subscription-based, particularly vMVPDs like YouTube TV, FuboTV, and Sling, as well as hybrid services like Hulu, HBOMax, and Paramount+ where there is “more intent” behind programming choice, the report found. 

The research indicates that while viewers tend to pay more attention to ads in subscription-based applications, ad attention still varies across all app types. Some apps, such as Xumo and the Roku Channel, outperform the FAST benchmark in terms of attention. Therefore, even in a FAST environment, it is important to be selective with the applications chosen for airing ads, the research found. 

Overall, the study found that consumers recognize the role of advertising in making less expensive programming possible and generally welcome ads in CTV environments. Nearly half (46%) of respondents said they would rather pay less and receive some ads when adding a new streaming service. Additionally, 82% of CTV viewers expect ads on free streaming services, and 7 out of 10 AVOD users report being at least somewhat satisfied with their CTV ad experience. Moreover, a significant percentage of respondents found ads to be useful, with 56% agreeing that ads and commercials provide them with useful information.

The study found that genres with higher engagement during viewing also had a higher share of ad attention. Crime dramas had the highest attention percentage at 46%, followed by political commentary/coverage at 39%, and game show competition at 38%. On the other hand, awards programming had the lowest attention percentage at 14%, followed by sci-fi at 16%, and action/adventure at 20%.

As expected, the study found that repetition can be a major annoyance and negatively impact brand sentiment. Over two-thirds (67%) of viewers are annoyed by seeing the same ad more than once within the same ad pod. Ultimately, Yahoo and Publicis Media found that attention drops when viewers are exposed to the same ad within two minutes, and remains lowered for ads aired less than 5 minutes apart. The study suggests an attention “sweet spot” of 6-10 exposures, while maintaining an optimal gap of 12 - 24 hours between exposures to avoid brand burnout.

Placement within ad pods was also important. On average, ads aired in the first in-pod position capture 6% more attention than ads aired in the mid or last pod position. If an ad airs in the first in-pod position, it captures at least 2 seconds of attention 38% of the time. In terms of attention time, ads aired in the first in-pod position capture 1 second more attention than ads aired in the mid or last pod position. On average, if an ad airs in the first in-pod position, viewers pay 11 seconds of attention. Meanwhile, shorter pod durations also matter, and get more attention and co-viewing, with consumers more receptive to them.

The timing of ad breaks has a significant impact on the receptiveness of viewers, the study found. Unnatural breaks, such as those that cut off a show mid-sentence, are considered "the worst," and many prefer the more natural breaks seen on cable. In fact, two-thirds (66%) of respondents said that ads that cut a show off at an unnatural place are the worst ad experiences, while 61% said the same for ads that cut a show off at a cliffhanger, and 47% for ad breaks that aren't evenly spaced out throughout a show. Many viewers want the streaming ad experience to be more comparable to the "natural" cable ad experience, with 55% saying that cable delivers more predictable ads and 51% indicating that they would like streaming ad experiences to reflect the cable ad experience. Most respondents also said vMVPD and Hybrid services deliver the most “natural” ad breaks.

The research was based on a dual-methodology approach, using both Big Data research and a Consumer Research approach. The Big Data research involved facial recognition and ACR data to capture attention metrics, analyzing 66,000 ads across four CTV ad environments, 1.3 million impressions, 5,000 households, and 15,000 individuals in 25 DMAs. This data was supplied by TVision. Additionally, the Consumer Research Approach included qualitative interviews and feedback, as well as a quantitative survey of 1,000 adult CTV consumers, which was executed by Open Mind Strategy.

NEW YORK—In a notable example of how some tech companies are working to provide consumers with tools that will help them find credible news sources and reduce the spread of disinformation, Yahoo has announced a deal to acquire the algorithm-driven news rating company The Factual.

Yahoo plans to use The Factual’s algorithm to provide Yahoo consumers with what it is calling “a first of its kind analysis of news stories” by rating articles with a media bias and credibility score. 

The score will provide consumers additional insight into the content they consume and when applied to millions of users, can increase confidence in the news, Yahoo said.

“I’m thrilled to have The Factual join Yahoo in a time when access to trusted information is more critical than ever,” said Matt Sanchez, president and general manager of Yahoo Home Ecosystem. “The combination of Yahoo’s journalism and our publishing partners' content with The Factual’s news rating algorithm will bring a new level of transparency to Yahoo users, enabling them to make informed decisions on their news sources.”

“The Factual’s algorithm helps readers understand the complete story and easily get all the facts,” said Arjun Moorthy, co-founder and CEO, The Factual. “We are excited to join Yahoo with our shared mission of bringing trusted news to consumers. By applying The Factual’s algorithm across Yahoo’s content, consumers will be able to identify the news as determined by data, not politics.”

Each article receives a credibility and trust score between 1-100% based on four metrics:

• Site Quality: Site quality considers the site’s history of producing well-sourced, informative articles. Sites that have a history of producing high-scoring articles will have a higher rating.
• Author’s Expertise: Author expertise considers the author’s topical expertise based on how well-researched previous articles were.
• Quality and Diversity of Sources: The quality and diversity of sources considers how many original sources were cited in the article and the number of direct meaningful quotes (of at least 5 words) and how reputable those sources are.
• Article tone: The article tone considers how opinionated or neutral the language in an article.

These four metrics combine to rank the information and credibility of an article that will help consumers identify news sources they can trust by giving them all the facts to reach their own conclusions. News articles will also include a bias label that classifies news sites by political bias enabling consumers to see multiple perspectives across the political spectrum.

To date, The Factual has graded over 10 million news articles delivering rankings across a daily newsletter and a site that shows live trending topics.

The acquisition of The Factual closed August 23rd, 2022, the companies said.

Arjun Moorthy, CEO and co-founder of The Factual, and Ajoy Sojan, CTO and co-founder, will join Yahoo and take on product and engineering leadership roles in the organization.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. 

SUNNYVALE, Calif.—Yahoo has announced an expansion of its partnership with Fox’s ad-supported streaming service Tubi, adding new features and ad inventory that will help streamline the buying and selling of connected TV (CTV) ads. 

Building on Yahoo and Tubi’s existing supply-side (SSP) relationship, the expanded partnership will offer Yahoo DSP advertisers direct access to Tubi’s AVOD content library, a move that will make it easier to plan and buy CTV, the companies said. 

“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. “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.”

By giving Yahoo DSP customers a direct connection to Tubi’s streaming inventory, the companies said that CTV buyers will have access to competitive auction efficiencies and advertiser-specific private deal capabilities such as programmatic guaranteed, advanced reporting capabilities, and increased transparency across Tubi buys.

The partnership takes advantage of Yahoo’s unified advertising technology stack, which facilitates both buy and sell-side capabilities as well as an exchange -- all tightly integrated to work better together, the companies said. 

The companies also noted that the expanded partnership will position Tubi and Yahoo to better support CTV advertisers’ Upfront campaigns on Tubi for the 2021-22 season and beyond.

“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.”

Some media planners and agencies also praised the alliance. 

“The acceleration of CTV introduces greater flexibility into the way advertisers buy streaming media and deliver audience engagement,” said Lisa Herdman, senior vice president and executive director of strategic investment at 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 omnichannel campaigns.”

“CTV viewership surged over the last year, driven by evolving consumer behavior and the demand for streaming inventory,” said Jacob Lustig, vice president, media innovation & analytics at Klick Health. “As we work to meet our life sciences clients' audiences wherever they are, partners like Tubi and Yahoo are able to connect our CTV spend to other mediums, giving us more holistic omnichannel planning and insights.”

NEW YORK—Verizon has agreed to terms with Apollo Global Management that will see Apollo acquire Verizon Media for $5 billion. Verizon Media consists of Yahoo, AOL and other ad tech and media platform businesses.

Per the deal, Verizon will retain 10% of the spun off company, which will be known as Yahoo. Verizon Media CEO Guru Gowrappan will remain in his position.

“We are excited to be joining forces with Apollo,” said Gowrappan. “The past two quarters of double-digit growth have demonstrated our ability to transform our media ecosystem. With Apollo’s sector expertise and strategic insight, Yahoo will be well positioned to capitalize on market opportunities, media and transaction experience and continue to grow our full stack digital advertising platform. This transition will help to accelerate our growth for the long- term success of the company.”

Verizon Media has grown over the last two quarters by pushing new ad offerings, consumer ecommerce, subscriptions, betting and strategic partnerships. Yahoo is also popular among Gen Z, as Yahoo News was labeled as the fastest growing news organization on TikTok.

Under the agreement, Verizon will receive $4.25 billion in cash, preferred interests of $750 million and 10% stock in Verizon Media. The transaction includes all of Verizon Media’s brands and businesses.

Verizon estimates that the deal will close in the second half of 2021.

SUNNYVALE, CALIF.—Yahoo is dropping the puck on a new live streaming service partnership with the National Hockey League that will see Yahoo Sports provide live out-of-market NHL games to fans for free. Fans will be able access these live streams throughout the week without the need for a cable subscription or authentication, according to Yahoo.

Photo credit: NBC Sports

Starting on Friday, March 11, Yahoo will live stream an NHL “Game of the Day” for up to four days a week. In addition, Yahoo will provide in-game highlights for all games, condensed games, “Best of the Day” and “Best of the Week” plays and post-game highlights. The games will be offered for the remained of the NHL’s regular season, but the agreement does not include live streams of any Stanley Cup playoff games. The service will start up again, however, for the entire 2016-2017 regular season and continue through the 2017-2018 season as well.

This new service will go along with Yahoo’s current partnership with NBC Sports Group to promote national NHL games that air on Wednesday and Sunday.

This announcement is part of Yahoo’s goal to provide live professional sporting events daily. Yahoo currently offers live and on-demand content for Major League Baseball, NBC Sports and a recently announced deal with the Professional Golf Association. Yahoo also provided the first live-stream of an NFL game in October of 2015 between the Buffalo Bills and Jacksonville Jaguars.

SUNNVALE, CALIF.—This past weekend’s game between the Buffalo Bills and Jacksonville Jaguars offered more than the Jags late comeback. The game, which was played in London as part of the NFL’s International series, was the first to be live streamed on Yahoo and, in a report from the NFL, generated more than 33.6 million streams from 15.2 million unique viewers.

The NFL made the game available globally to anyone regardless of whether they had cable, authentication or a TV; viewers could stream it on all devices through Yahoo and Tumblr. It wasn’t just U.S. audiences that watched either, 33 percent of total views came from international audiences across 185 countries.

The NFL expects the 15.2 million of total viewers to increase as more markets come in. The game was not streamed for the Buffalo and Jacksonville areas, where it instead played on TV. It also played on TV in the London/U.K. market. The NFL was yet to unveil digital numbers from China as well.

NFL Senior Vice President of Media Strategy, Business Development & Sales Hans Schroeder expressed the NFL’s pleasure with initial results, but as of now there is no announcement that there will be future live streams of games on Yahoo or any other platform.