Ben Silverman

i/o Ventures Sets Up Shop in Hollywood

Liz Gannes in News on March 30 at 4:20 am PT

Former Myspace CTO Aber Whitcomb is opening a massive SoCal outpost of the incubator/coworking/cafe space i/o Ventures.

Sarah Silverman Makes a Denny's Web Ad You May Not Want to Watch While You’re Eating

Peter Kafka in Media on March 23, 2011 at 12:33 pm PT

Who knew Denny’s was so edgy? Does Denny’s know Denny’s is so edgy?

Here's AOL's Now-Live New Homepage (And Welcome Back to the Adorkable Lindsay Campbell)

Kara Swisher in News on October 29, 2010 at 12:44 pm PT

Today, BoomTown interviewed AOL CEO Tim Armstrong, along with NPR CEO Vivian Schiller, at the Online News Association Conference in Washington, D.C., about the future of journalism on the Web. Afterward, I talked to him about the future of content on AOL, most particularly its new homepage revamp that focuses intently on editorial “curation,” rather than the more social direction being taken by rival Yahoo. After the jump is a screenshot of the new homepage, which is rolling out right now.

First Ben Silverman Online Program–"Ready, Set, Dance!"–Debuts on Yahoo

Kara Swisher in News on September 28, 2010 at 7:31 pm PT

Yahoo and Electus, the multiplatform content studio headed by former NBC entertainment head Ben Silverman, debuted its first original, branded entertainment programming tonight with “Ready, Set, Dance!” The site, which is now live on Yahoo Music and sponsored by State Farm, merges the candid-camera phenomenon with reality television and “aims to tap into the pop culture interest in television dance shows and dance videos on the Web….” The site is relatively spare right now, with only one episode, titled “Magic Sparkle Chunk and Frisky Ris.”

For Barry Diller and Ben Silverman, "Branded Content" Means Jason Bateman on a Stripper Pole

Peter Kafka in Media on August 6, 2010 at 11:29 am PT

A mini-movie featuring a cross-dressing dancer with a heart of something other than gold. Does it make you want to buy some gum?

Liveblogging Yahoo's First-Quarter Earnings Call: Yahoo Paints by the Numbers!

Kara Swisher in News on April 20, 2010 at 1:59 pm PT

BoomTown liveblogged Yahoo’s first-quarter earnings call with analysts today, which started at 2 pm PT. Earlier today, Yahoo said its net income spiked to $310 million, or 22 cents a share, in the period. On the call, CEO Carol Bartz talked about Yahoo as art and about borderline obsessives, like Van Gogh (and BoomTown).

Yahoo Celebrates Its 15th Anniversary: Now, Is It Finally Time to Buy AOL as a Gift to Itself?

Kara Swisher in News on March 2, 2010 at 8:44 am PT

Today, Yahoo is turning 15, which makes it approximately 105 in Internet years. All joking aside–especially since that makes BoomTown 134 years old–reaching this mark is both an accomplishment and a burden, with Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz pushing forward a very deliberate transformation and employing a fix-it management style in her tenure at Yahoo of just over a year. While the seasoned exec has most certainly gotten the trains running better, some are now wondering if there needs to be a more dramatic facelift at Yahoo to hurl it forward at even greater speed.

Liveblogging the Yahoo Fourth-Quarter Earnings Call: Can You Say "Sequential"? (Also Homepage Hover Out!)

Kara Swisher in News on January 26, 2010 at 2:02 pm PT

BoomTown, as usual, liveblogged Yahoo’s fourth quarter earnings call, which starred Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz. She was sick in the last quarter, with CFO Tim Morse filling in. Tim tried, but could not channel Carol’s kinetic and sometimes caustic energy. But she returned today, not with a bang, but not with a whimper either.

Yahoo Slightly Beats Expectations in Fourth-Quarter Earnings, But Revenue and Earnings Still Down

Kara Swisher in News on January 26, 2010 at 1:22 pm PT

While it was no blowout, Yahoo reported slightly stronger results in the fourth quarter than had been expected by Wall Street today after the markets closed, with revenue down eight percent compared to last year, rather than the predicted 10 percent drop. Analysts had been estimating that Yahoo would have net revenues of $1.23 billion in the quarter. Instead, it posted $1.258 billion in revenue. Earnings were right on target to what was expected, $119 million for the quarter, or 11 cents a share.