Will Yahoo Platinum Be A (Real) Nightmare?
from the battling-for-online-media dept
As Terry Semel works to turn Yahoo into more and more of a media play (going back to his roots) instead of whatever an online “portal” was supposed to be, some people are now wondering what the world of online video will look like in the near future. Right now, Real Networks dominates the space with their SuperPass program ($10/month for streaming content). Now, Yahoo is getting ready to launch their competing Yahoo Platinum service, and it’s clearly aimed right at Real. Real, of course, claims they welcome the competition and are prepared for it – though some think Yahoo has enough money to hurt Real. Of course, Real has already survived battles with Microsoft, so they know a thing or two about battling a company with tons of money to spend on putting them out of business. This does, though, bring up the other question of when Microsoft will enter this business as well. Meanwhile, there are those who wonder why anyone would bother paying these guys any money at all when all the content shows up on Kazaa anyway.
