Yahoo! Runs with a Good Idea

The Wall Street Journal headline says it all, "Yahoo Hopes to Make Network Flop a Net Hit."

If you've been following this blog at all, you'll know that I've been evangelizing my aversion to companies and networks simply using the rich media web as just another distribution channel.

But what about using the web to revive a TV show? Maybe one that didn't work on traditional TV? Yahoo! is trying to do just this with ABC's cancelled interactive TV attempt called, "The Runner." Produced by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck - now this is a concept that I can get behind.

It's already got cache because of these guys, so why not use the broadband web to provide the engaging and entertaining content, and then you've got the added dimension of interactivity.

The trick is finding the content that organically grows over time. That's been elusive for Yahoo! to date. The WSJ article says that Yahoo! needs to find its Sopranos (the show really launched cable to prominence). Same holds for the web. Content is still king, but once you've got the audience, you need to give them more than a sit-back-in-your-couch experience.


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