Yahoo, Google reportedly plotting more 'conventional' TV plays

Yahoo is planning to get into high-end video programming and Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) is again revamping the way it approaches the TV space with Android TV, according to a pair of published reports.

Those "briefed on Yahoo's plans" say that the company is looking to acquire high-end video programming such as half-hour comedies that would be developed by writers or directors with TV experience.

"They want to blow it out big time," one such source said in a story in the Wall Street Journal. "They're looking at the same type of shows that Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) and Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) are eyeing."

Yahoo, which has been shaking and baking under the new leadership of Chief Executive Marissa Mayer, declined to comment on the report.

On the other end of the search engine spectrum, Google "is about to launch a renewed assault on your television set called Android TV," a story in The Verge reported.

Using documents it obtained "exclusively," The Verge was able to outline a service that will "look and feel a lot more like the rest of the set-top boxes on the market, including Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) TV, Amazon's Fire TV and Roku," the story said.

In short, instead of turning the TV into a mobile phone, Google is building its own version of cable TV.

For more:
- see this Wall Street Journal story
- and this The Verge story

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