brought you "The Office" and "Knight Rider."
Electus CEO Ben Silverman
(Credit: Yahoo)
Electus, the production company founded by former head of NBC
programming Ben Silverman, has signed a deal with Yahoo's media group
to produce "exclusive premium content for Yahoo and its advertising
partners," according to a press release. Silverman oversaw NBC's
programming from 2007 to 2009, and prior to that founded Reveille
Productions, which created the U.S. version of "The Office" and "Ugly
Betty." His tenure also coincided with a slip in the ratings for NBC,
however, hastened by flops such as the "Knight Rider" remake and "Kath
and Kim."
Expect to see a wide variety of programs emerge from the partnership,
said Joanne Bradford, Yahoo's senior vice president for North America
revenue and market development. That includes scripted content and
possible "Webisode" ideas, in addition to the recap shows it currently
produces, such as "Prime Time in No Time."
Yahoo has been looking for a way to expand the amount of original
video content it produces, as it once again tries to build out its
media division under CEO Carol Bartz. Last year, Yahoo made it known
that it wanted to do more than recap shows without revisiting its past
failures in creating content for the Internet, although it also
appeared to eschew the types of shows that Silverman became famous for
producing.
At the same time, Yahoo wants to make sure it's putting together
advertiser-friendly programming, Bradford said. She declined to
comment on whether or not Yahoo has signed deals with any specific
advertisers. but agreed that it wouldn't be a good idea to launch such
a venture without advertiser backing.