Betting on web entertainment

Apparently yes…. and not only that, they are renewing them based on their success. That’s pretty good, I’m glad the format of web series is continuing to take shape.

One day, some web series will effectively become the “Avatar” or “Nevermind” of its type and just blow the whole format out… something will become super popular and bring the notion of web series into the mainstream.

Until then, it is great that the likes of Yahoo and Google are out there trying to surface new content in new ways.

Yahoo’s not stealing TV dollars just yet, but it seems to be holding strong. The company is set to announce on April 2 that it’s renewing all but one of the eight women’s shows it promoted in the fall while rolling out three new series. “We are thrilled with how the first run of the female slate performed,” said Erin McPherson, Yahoo’s vp and head of video programming and originals. “We are exactly where we want to be with it.”

In fact, over the past six months, the new shows have been streamed collectively over 200 million times, per Yahoo. The seven returning shows have been among the top 25 most-watched online series, with most receiving between 1 million and 3 million unique visitors in February, according to comScore.

Yahoo Goes All In on Web Series Wager | Adweek.