Following news over the weekend that Yahoo is moving toward launching its own platform to rival YouTube, a new report Monday suggests the Web company is in early-stage talks to acquire online video service News Distribution Network (NDN).
Several people claiming to have knowledge of the talks told the Wall Street Journal Yahoo could pay as much as $300 million for the company.
NDN’s catalog comprises thousands of news-based videos created by a range of partners such as local TV stations which it makes available to major sites such as the LA Times, the NY Daily News, and Bloomberg. Revenue comes by way of ads that accompany the videos.
The syndication service is based in Atlanta and was founded in 2007.
Yahoo has certainly shown plenty of interest in online video since Marissa Mayer took the reins in 2012. The company attempted, though failed, to acquire French video site Dailymotion from owner France Telecom last year, while it also seemed interested in buying Hulu for up to $800 million, though that deal didn’t go through either.
And on Saturday it emerged Yahoo was looking to sign up popular YouTube figures to join its new platform, which could launch in the next few months.
Speaking at a tech conference at the start of the year, Mayer, who used to be a top executive at YouTube’s parent company, Google, described the tech industry as being at “a critical moment embarking on the next-generation of video consumption.”
A successful online video service could serve to boost Yahoo’s audience significantly and increase revenue through advertising on the platform while pushing Web users to other parts of its already massive site.
However, for it to become a hit with users, it’s widely accepted the service will have to bring something new to the table and offer a different kind of experience to what firmly established YouTube already offers.
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