Whoa, NYTimes.com is reporting that News Corp. is in talks with Microsoft to join in the bid for Yahoo. The talks are in a “sensitive stage” and far from a done deal, a source says. “The combination, which would join Yahoo, Microsoft’s MSN and News Corporation’s MySpace, would create a behemoth that would upend the Internet landscape,” reports the Times. To say the least. Meanwhile, Yahoo is conducting a two-week test to allow Google to serve ads alongside Yahoo search results. As you might imagine, Microsoft blasted the idea. “Any definitive agreement between Yahoo and Google would consolidate over 90 percent of the search advertising market in Google’s hands,” Microsoft said in a statement.
Update: Wait! Now Yahoo is talking to AOL, says the WSJ. What a mess.
Flickr has entered the video space! (I’m a much biased Flickr Pro user.) The sexy, Vimeo-esque Flash player is basic but good looking, and I intend to try the service out during my lunch break.
Flickr’s blog is quick to point out that this isn’t YouTube. For example, uploads are limited to 150MB, about 90 seconds or less and you can’t choose your own video thumbnail. More details in the Flickr video FAQ.
If you’re headed to Vegas next week, make sure you drop by Lost Remote’s annual meetup on Tuesday, anytime between 4-6 p.m., in the little Hilton bar between the RTNDA meeting rooms and the casino floor (same place as the last few years). More later, but I wanted to get it on your schedule…
The Star Tribune is installing a “stand-up” studio and editing suites with plans to launch StribTV. “We are starting with information shows around content that we already own to a large degree: sports, local entertainment, lifestyle and news/public affairs (politics),” writes Editor Nancy Barnes in a memo to staff. “We plan to add a daily newscast, available on demand, and may expand into weather.” Beyond a few big dailies like the Washington Post, this sounds like the most aggressive original video effort yet for a newspaper. But newspaper-on-video hasn’t always been a success, especially in linear newscast form. You may remember, Roanoke.com’s TimesCast was only getting a few hundred views a day, so the newspaper site discontinued it last year. The key, as we’ve written before, is to produce on-demand video that’s tailored to the web in underserved niches. We’ll see if StribTV can pull it off.
Disney CEO Bob Iger said ABC News is “disadvantaged” in the digital world when compared to cable/internet combinations CNN/CNN.com and MSNBC/MSNBC.com. ABCNews.com had a record month in March, but still lags the top news sites. The key for ABCNews.com is “better content,” he said, saying it puts more pressure on ABCNews.com to “be better at it.” Iger mentioned that HuffingtonPost has grown a large audience without a television arm (a little apples-to-oranges considering it’s an advocacy site.)
Hulu has sold out of its ad inventory. “Does that mean Hulu’s a hit? Not exactly,” writes Michael Learmonth in Silicon Alley Insider. “For starters, Hulu execs have kept the ad load on the site intentionally light, showing only one ad per commercial break to avoid driving off users.” But more ads are on the way — some selling at an estimated $60-70 CPM.
The Star Tribune 
Hulu has 
