It was recently reported by the Wall Street Journal that Yahoo Inc. has plans to enter the online video streaming market, much like the services Netflix, Amazon Instant Video and Hulu Plus. The expansion would send Yahoo into an unfamiliar technological state. They will have to compete with the already well-established instant streaming services in a highly populated and competitive market.
While it is possible that Yahoo Inc. may gain some of their lost relevance by offering this new service, it will be difficult for them to offer new features to the pre-existing instant video streaming market.
If Yahoo wishes their streaming service to be successful, the company will have to purchase original content that will attract viewers away from other streaming services. Yahoo will have to lock down their content and ensure that it is only accessible via their streaming service. If Yahoo purchases content that is already accessible via other service providers, the company may be able to draw some of the other video streaming subscribers away from competing services, but Yahoo will not be able to pull all of the other services' subscribers away without some beneficial incentive.
Amazon and Netflix have already made their streaming products extremely mobile, so it is hard for me to see a way for Yahoo to expand on the mobile market. Hulu Plus has already made it so that their subscribers can access content that was premiered on TV 24 hours previously. Due to the dominance of these other original content streaming services, I am highly skeptical that Yahoo Inc. will be able to gain a large amount of revenue with this streaming service.
Yahoo will have to incorporate some sort of new technology into their streaming service to set it apart from others. It is unclear what this technology will be and unclear whether Yahoo will incorporate new revolutionary features. My advice is to stick to your current video streaming service until the public has a clearer picture of what new feature Yahoo's service will provide. You might even want to stay away from online video streaming services altogethe. It's easy to forget about the world and watch all 26 episodes of "House of Cards" on Netflix in a row.
- Mote is a sophomore French major from Indianapolis, Ind.
