by Joe Gillis, Aug 25 2011 // 10:00 AM
At first, Hulu seemed like a great idea and many trumpeted it as a new way to watch TV programming. Now, Hulu is up for auction and looks to be in real trouble.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, bidders don’t seem to be coming out of the woodwork to buy the online network and the deadline for bidders has been extended to this Friday. At the moment, companies like Yahoo, Google and Amazon are among those looking closely at the online streaming video service owned by News Corp, Disney, Comcast and Providence Equity Partners.
However, that doesn’t mean any of those companies have actually decided to move forward with a bid. They haven’t. Still, with bids expected to be as high as $1.5 billion-$2 billion, things may not be over for Hulu just yet.
Although, even if one of the companied does bid and Hulu is sold, that doesn’t mean it wil continue in its present form. Given the current state of its business, chances are it probably won’t. In fact, I would be surprised to see Hulu in existence in another three years.
Posted in: Movies · News · Tech · TV
Tagged: Amazon, Comcast, Content Streaming, Disney, Google, Hulu, Internet Streaming, News Corp., Yahoo
by Erik Jensen, Dec 16 2010 // 8:00 AM
Rumors swirling over a possible round of layoffs at web-giant Yahoo, turned out to be true and exhibited the worst-possible timing for employees cut-loose just prior to the holidays. Today, Yahoo confirmed that roughly 600 employees would be let-go as the company continues to attempt a turnaround under the leadership of CEO Carol Bartz.
In an official statement released today, Yahoo attempted to explain their recent decision.
“Today’s personnel changes are part of our ongoing strategy to best position Yahoo for revenue growth and margin expansion and to support our strategy to deliver differentiated products to the marketplace. We’ll continue to hire on a global basis to support our key priorities. Yahoo is grateful for the important contributions made by the employees affected by this reduction. We are offering severance packages and outplacement services to these employees.”
The layoffs affect roughly 4 percent of its total workforce of 14,100 employees, but underscore the one-time pioneering Internet company’s recent misfortunes. Most industry-watchers seem to pin Yahoo’s rough performance on general mismanagement and a series of unsuccessful merger opportunities. As you may recall, Yahoo turned a cold shoulder to Microsoft’s 2008 offer to purchase the company for an excess of $30-per-share, a roughly $45 billion offer.
Continue Reading →
Posted in: News · Tech · The Internets
Tagged: Internets, Search, Software, Yahoo, Yahoo layoffs
by Matt Raub, Jul 8 2009 // 2:30 PM
Yahoo has just released the first full trailer for District 9, and with it we get a lot more footage of aliens, things blowing up, and the general plot of the film. The first teaser gave us very little to go by, alluding that there were aliens, and they were being held hostage in South Africa. Now we know that they revolt, and cause a lot of havoc in the process.
The film stars Jason Cope, Kenneth Nkosi, and William Allen Young, with Peter Jackson producing and Neill Blomkamp directing. It looks as if it’s meant to utilize elements of Cloverfield with hand-held photography and bigger special effects. The one downfall is that there are gigantic robots, which seem to be everywhere in theaters this summer.
The plot has been under wraps for quite some time, but from what we know now, an alien race has come to earth on a one-way ticket, becoming stranded in Africa. Now seen as yet another mistrusted minority, the “non-humans” live in a dangerous ghetto and labor for little to no pay. But when a human encounters some strange non-human technology that begins to affect him in disturbing ways, his perspective on the situation changes drastically. Click here for the full trailer, and expect to see District 9 in theaters August 14.
Posted in: Action · Horror · Movies · News · Trailers
Tagged: District 9, Neil Blomkamp, Peter Jackson, Trailer, Yahoo