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When AOL bought Time Warner a few years ago, many thought that AOL/Time Warner would become THE next media empire.  Of course this never happened, in fact, recently Time Warner removed the “AOL” from the company name.  So I started looking around at other online companies, and while many think Google or MSN will be the next major media site, I disagree.  I began looking at Yahoo and found some interesting things.  Could changes at Yahoo! make it the next likely to make a run for the media empire title?

So, you are probably wondering why I would think that Yahoo! wants to assume this position?  Let’s start with the team that runs the company.  I’m talking about those which plan the long term future.

Of course you are already familiar with Jerry Yang and David Filo – the founders of Yahoo! and you probably also know of Terry Semel, Yahoo!s chairman and CEO.  Semel was hired in 2001 and brings with him years of television experience.  In fact Semel spent 24 years with Warner Brothers – helping grow the company to be a world leader in entertainment.

But it doesn’t stop there.

Yahoo!’s COO (Chief Operating Officer), Dan Rosensweig, also has his roots in other media.  Mr. Rosenweig was president of CNET, and before that he was with Ziff-Davis, a publishing powerhouse, for 18 years.

From Yahoo!s own website:  “Rosensweig built ZDNet as a standalone company from Ziff-Davis, successfully took the company public, grew the business to become both profitable and among the top 20 most visited networks on the Internet, and finally merged with CNET.”

The head of the Yahoo! Media Group also has previous TV experience.  Prior to joining Yahoo! Lloyd Braun served as chairman for ABC, a division of Disney.  In this position, he was responsible for all creative and programming areas of the division, which included Touchstone Television and ABC Entertainment.  He Also served as chairman of Buena Vista Television and oversaw the amalgamation of Buena Vista and ABC’s primetime division into one business unit.

Jeff Weiner is the Senior Vice President in charge of Search and Marketplace.  As part of his Job, Mr. Weiner oversees all commerce aspects of Yahoo! including Yahoo! Shopping, Yahoo! Travel and more.

Prior to joining Yahoo! Mr. Weiner “was co-founder of Windsor Digital, a private equity firm focused on digital and media investments. From 1996 to 2000, he helped conceive the initial plan for Warner Brothers Online and played a key role in developing and overseeing the division, one of the first entertainment groups to take advantage of the Internet medium.”

Chris Castro is Yahoo!’s Chief Communications Officer and also a Senior Vice President.  Previously she was vice president of corporate communications at The Walt Disney Company.  She also has a bachelor of arts degree in journalism and a master of arts degree in communications management.

Gregory Coleman is the Executive Vice President of Media and Sales.  He is responsible for overseeing Yahoo!’s advertising efforts globally.  Prior to joining Yahoo! he was senior vice president of Reader’s Digest.

John E. Marcom Jr.  is Senior Vice President, International Operations, and he oversees Yahoo!’s international business operations.  Prior to joining Yahoo! Mr Marcom worked in various companies including spending eight years at AOL Time Warner where he served in several senior roles, such as president of Time Inc. International.

Wenda Harris Millard joined Yahoo! in October 2001 as Chief Sales Officer.  She is responsible for ensuring North American sales and marketing initiatives.  She was formerly Chief Internet Officer at Ziff Davis Media and president of Ziff Davis Internet and was also senior vice president and publisher of Family Circle, the world’s largest-selling women’s magazine.

Jim Moloshok is Senior Vice President, Media and Entertainment which includes Yahoo! Movies, TV, Sports, and Games to name just a few.  Prior to coming to Yahoo! he spent eleven years at Warner Bros., where he pioneered and led the company’s online strategies. He was co-founder and president of Warner Bros. Online.  Prior to this he worked for Lorimar Telepictures, where he was senior vice president of marketing. He also worked at Group W Productions, now part of CBS.

And this is just a few of the top names who work for Yahoo!  There are many others with many years experience in other online businesses as well as lots of technical experience.

So let me summarize some of the experience here:

Terry Semel - a 24-year veteran of Warner Bros - Yahoo CEO
Dan Rosensweig - former president of CNET Networks - Chief Operating Officer

Lloyd Braun - Former ABC Exec - head of Yahoo’s media and entertainment properties

Jeff Weiner - former Warner executive - search business
Chris Castro – former VP of corporate communications at The Walt Disney Company - Chief Communications Officer
Gregory Coleman - former VP Readers Digest - Executive Vice President, Media and Sales

John E. Marcom Jr. - former AOL Exec - Senior Vice President, International Operations

Wenda Harris Millard – former publisher of Family Circle Magazine - Chief Sales Officer.
Jim Moloshok - former president of Warner Bros. Online - Senior Vice President, Media and Entertainment

That’s a lot of off-line media experience, including magazine’s TV and movies.  I would think it’s safe to assume where Yahoo! plans to go.

When you combine this with the purchases and partnerships they’ve made in the past (such as partnering with RealMedia to provide streaming content), and building such services as Yahoo! Music, Yahoo! Movies and more – all offering streaming media content.

Yahoo! will also likely be the first search engine to debut a feed search service.  If you aren’t aware RSS Feeds are the latest way to communicate – by giving average people a way to publish and syndicate their content.

They are also working on multi-platform versions of their services so you can get streaming media on things like Palm Pilots and cell phones, and have recently signed deals with Boeing to offer online service on airlines, and Sprint to offer services customized to the Sprint Mobile.

Basically, Yahoo! has its fingers in every pie, and is looking at how to not only deliver media to multiple users on multiple platforms, but also how to monetize it.  You can also be sure that with the skills and abilities of the executives running the corporation they are always on the lookout for the latest technology, and how it will integrate Yahoo! into it.