Getting into streaming to build audiences and keep viewers engaged.
Yahoo is a household name that millions of people rely on for their daily dose of news and entertainment. To grow audiences, increase user stickiness, and stay relevant, they needed a digital streaming solution as powerful as their web pages. We helped Yahoo create a streaming channel that went live on Roku in less than a month.
Challenge
The competition for daily active users is fierce. Yahoo had done an excellent job of building audiences by adding video content across their sites, but they lacked what audiences want – a dedicated streaming video channel for all their news and entertainment. With major brands rapidly entering the streaming marketplace, Yahoo needed its own video streaming channel, and they needed it fast. Yahoo needed help:
- Developing a new, monetizable video experience
- Integrating multiple content libraries into a live daily schedule
- Measuring and improving daily active users, streams, and revenue
Solution
In less than 30 days, Yahoo was live on Roku. Powered by the Verizon Media Platform, “Yahoo” integrates live and linear programming, including premium long-form content, live daily programming, recurring series, and special events from Yahoo News, Yahoo Finance, HuffPost, MAKERS, Yahoo Sports, and RYOT into a premium broadcast TV-like experience.
Yahoo is leveraging the Verizon Media Platform API to schedule live and VOD content, stitching them seamlessly together with ad breaks. Additional technology being utilized includes:
- Smartplay server-side ad insertion to create personalized viewing experiences and increase monetization
- Native analytics that tracks revenue streams, DAU, and other metrics
- Excellent visibility and analytics into user data and consumption
Outcome
The Verizon Media Platform provides viewer analytics to Yahoo before they are available from Roku, so the Yahoo team can make time-sensitive programming decisions to optimize engagement. This has enabled Yahoo to capture average viewership of 34 minutes per session. Combined with a 98% ad completion rate, and Yahoo has been able to command a healthy $28-32 CPM.
The flexibility of the Verizon Media Platform has also enabled Yahoo to quickly adapt their feed to Sling, Amazon, and every other streaming platform, extending Yahoo’s reach to millions of global viewers.
