Yahoo! Launches Podcasting; Yahoo! Podcasts, a New Beta Service, Lets Consumers Find and Listen to New Audio Programs

Business Wire, Oct 10, 2005

SUNNYVALE, Calif. -- Yahoo! (Nasdaq:YHOO), the No. 1 Internet brand and the most trafficked Internet destination worldwide, today announced its entry into podcasting with the beta release of Yahoo! Podcasts. The new Yahoo! Podcasts service enables consumers to easily find, listen to, rate and review online audio programs. Yahoo! Podcasts can be found at http://podcasts.yahoo.com and on Yahoo! Next at http://next.yahoo.com.

Yahoo!'s new offering provides access to a wide variety of audio content from around the world and across the web. Podcast content ranges from popular sources such as National Public Radio and the weekly Presidential address, to lesser known and unknown shows, including all kinds of independently published programs like a fantasy sports podcast, Fantasy Focus, and the KnitCast program for knitting enthusiasts. Podcasting is a growing phenomenon that enables anyone to create and distribute their own series of Internet audio programs or audio blogs (web logs), resulting in a new form of online media that people can listen to whenever and wherever they want.

Yahoo! Podcasts offers community ratings and reviews to help people find the right podcasts for them, user tagging for better searching and discoverability, and a comprehensive podcast search. In addition, Yahoo! is providing most popular and highest rated lists, category browsing and editorial picks. Yahoo! plans to add more features to Yahoo! Podcasts throughout the beta period, including personalized recommendations and easy-to-use publishing tools, which will allow anyone to create and publish their own podcasts.

"As web users increasingly become both consumers and publishers of content, Yahoo! continues to roll out innovative services that bring the power of Yahoo! technology to users," said Geoff Ralston, chief product officer of Yahoo!. "Yahoo! Podcasts will help people find the content they want, discover new content, personalize their experience and share feedback. We're excited to help grow the podcasting community by giving consumers easy access to new and interesting forms of open content, and helping podcast publishers reach a broader audience."

Consumers can test the initial set of features, including:

--The Yahoo! Podcasts directory: Search or browse the expansive directory with tens of thousands of podcasts from across the Web.

--Community tools: Explore user reviews, ratings and tags to identify compelling audio programs as determined by the active Yahoo! community.

--Convenient listening through your computer: Listen directly from the source through Yahoo! Podcasts, with or without an mp3 player, and skim through long podcasts using Yahoo! Podcasts' fast web-based playback at up to two times the speed of an original recording.

--Compatibility with existing audio players: Use Yahoo! Podcasts to listen and subscribe to audio programs with podcast aggregators or desktop media players, including the Yahoo! Music Engine, iTunes and the Windows Media Player. Listen on the go, by transferring programs to any mp3 player, including the iPod, iRiver, Dell DJ, Creative Zen, etc.

--Integration with the Yahoo! Music Engine: Get the ultimate podcast consumption experience all in one place with easy finding, listening, subscribing and downloading right from within the Yahoo! Music Engine. Users can subscribe to podcasts of their choice and have new episodes automatically delivered to them via the Yahoo! Music Engine.

About Yahoo!

Yahoo! Inc. is the No. 1 Internet brand globally and the most trafficked Internet destination worldwide. Yahoo! provides online products and services essential to consumers' lives, and offers a full range of tools and marketing solutions for businesses to connect with Internet users around the world. Yahoo! is headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif.

Yahoo! and the Yahoo! logo are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Yahoo! Inc.

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