This morning, Yahoo said it had hired PayPal President Scott Thompson as its newest victim, oops, CEO.

(You can read my interview with him too, here.)

AllThingsD.com had reported the pending development last night — which is how we roll here.

Now we will roll into the conference call on the matter, and are hoping that the head of the lucrative eBay payments unit will make an appearance, given that he does not start until next week.

One piece of advice I will extend Thompson: I would refrain from cursing, as previous Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz did on her first outing. (She was fired in September, although not precisely for the cussing she so enjoyed partaking in.)

Here we go!

7:02 am: It’s on, with Thompson present.

Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock begins, and he is “very excited, very excited.”

I’d be very excited if Thompson talked and not Roy, who has been to this particular Yahoo CEO rodeo a few too many times before.

Bostock is making promises that this time it’s going to be different. Really!

He also notes that the company will continue its “strategic review” — but who knows what that means now.

And he thanks Tim Morse, the interim CEO who is moving back to the CFO job. (Agreed — nice work, Tim!)

7:06 am: Scott Thompson is on and is “just thrilled” to be the new Yahoo CEO.

I like his accent, which seems like he might be from Boston. He does look and sound like Cliff Clavin, the mailman guy at the Beantown bar from the television classic “Cheers.”

Except, given he has been the darkest of dark horses in this CEO race, nobody knew Thompson’s name.

Thompson is saying all the right stuff, about wanting to increase shareholder value and such.

He sounds so hopeful! Urgency! Thoughtfulness! A bright new morning at Yahoo!

I have been to this rodeo before too, but I am still hoping this time it’ll work.

Scott, if you let me down, I might cry, because you sound so nice.

7:09 am Q&A time already.

Congrats from the Wall Street analyst peanut gallery.

Then, it’s right into a question for Bostock, about the progress of the Asian assets deal.

Also, is Thompson too much of a technologist and not a media dude?

Bostock wants to talk about only Scott, but notes that there will be “no slowdown and no delay” in the Asian process. And Thompson will be all onboard when he comes on board, folks.

Bostock sounds tired, but starts to talk about how a “great customer experience” is the key to the advertising business. He notes that Thompson knows how to do this, hence he’ll be fantastic.

“I have every expectation he’ll be out there calling on advertisers,” says Bostock. I would hope so, given that is where Yahoo makes most of its lettuce.

Bostock is saying Yahoo has been “treading water” and now needs to swim fast. Treading water? I wonder who the top honcho at Yahoo has been while the company has been listlessly dangling its legs in the drink?

Roy — that’s who!

7:15 am: Another analyst asks about margins.

Thompson is not having any of it! He is polite when asking for time to get on the job to make proper statements.

But he does focus on the need to build “great, innovative” products. True, but Yahoo has been incredibly unable to do this of late.

Thompson gives no specifics, though. My big idea: I would steal the self-driving car from Google.

7:17 am: A question about what the core of Yahoo is, and about what lessons Thompson is bringing from his experience at PayPal.

Well, he has not met the team — literally. Yahoo’s board consulted almost no one in the top ranks of execs on this appointment.

But Thompson “suspects” there is talent there. Given the recent attrition, he’ll need a big Inspector Clouseau magnifying glass to find it!

From eBay’s PayPal, he says that the key was balancing the customer experience with network effect and, well, blah, blah, blah Internet-speak.

I am still thinking shoplifting the self-driving car is the bestest idea.

7:20 am: A question about Yahoo’s display business versus Google.

Thompson notes it is too early for him to say — though he had better say soon! — but notes that data is key. He is a well-known by-the-numbers guy, and that is clearly where we are going at Yahoo, now that he is the big dog.

Thus:

“The data these Internet businesses create, the ability to use analytical technology to build a better businesses for your customers … I feel certain that wealth of data is going to be exploitable for next generation products, next generation experiences … My instinct says down in that data we’re going to be able to find ways to compete and innovate that the world hasn’t seen yet.”

I am really liking this accent, which is almost lulling. And so polite! Sources tell me that being “collaborative” was a big goal in this hiring.

7:22 am: A question about the identity of Yahoo, and whether it should be public or private.

Thompson harps on the need for innovation, and hopes it will be the future.

“I would not be here if I didn’t think it was possible,” says Thompson.

Bostock takes the public/private question. Yahoo will be public, he declares! Mostly, because it would be too pricey to take private.

“It’s a moot point,” he says.

7:25 am: More questions about what Yahoo is.

Thompson declines to run off the rails on this dicey one, but he says he believes that Yahoo has great assets.

It does. It’s just that it has been crashed many times — by the people who just hired him — right into a wall.

Just sayin’ — a self-driving car would have done a better job.

7:27 am: A brain-drain question, and more on Asia and on mobile.

Bostock butts in again. He said that Thompson will not be distracted by that, and will concentrate on the core business. Hush up, Roy.

Thompson says that he looks forward to meeting the peeps of Yahoo. (’Cuz he has not, as yet!)

He also loves mobile — which Yahoo has largely borked.

7:32 am: A content strategy question. Early days, so Thompson is still keeping his yap shut.

In this, he’s like the anti-Bartz. Is this good? It’s certainly different.

He says again that, “I can’t wait to meet” everyone at Yahoo. Vice versa, because this dude came from left field.

Thompson promises that he will be a “sponge.”

He closes by noting that he is “genuinely excited,” and says he believes in Yahoo.

Indeed, when it comes to Yahoo, you definitely gotta have faith.

The deal is more or less a replica of the pact CBS and Netflix struck in February: Access to relatively recent CBS shows that aren’t on the air anymore, like “Medium,” as well as library titles the network owns that aired elsewhere, like “Frasier” and “Cheers.” But no “in-season” episodes of anything.

CBS and Amazon aren’t talking about money, but Barclays analyst Anthony DiClemente pegged the value of the CBS/Netflix deal at $200 million over two years. It’s reasonable to assume that Amazon is paying the same rate for its shows, but spending less over all. That’s because the total value of the deal is likely based on Amazon’s subscriber base, which is much lower than Netflix’s.

UPDATE: Wells Fargo analyst Marci Ryvicker pegs the deal at “over $100 million,” over an 18-month term.

Amazon says the new titles will bring its streaming library up to 8,000 titles; Netflix boasts around 20,000 titles for its digital-only library. For now, Amazon’s Web video titles are free to customers who use its “Prime” delivery service, but industry observers assume that library access will also be a big part of the new iPad-like tablet the company is expected to unveil this fall.

Meanwhile, the deal underscores the best-case digital scenario for big media players like CBS — the company gets to take old shows and resell them multiple times (and maybe more, as Microsoft, Apple, and others eye the market), and doesn’t have to worry about cannibalization.

Things get much trickier when consumers decide they want to watch current programming, though. That stuff continues to be worth much more to studios and networks when it runs on broadcast or cable TV, but convincing viewers to play along is getting increasingly difficult.

Is it just me or does it feel like the whole odd public back- and-forth between Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is beginning to mimic the endless loop of the deeply annoying relationship between Ross Geller and Rachel Green on the long-running NBC television hit, “Friends”?

At least in their star-crossed hijinks, Ross and Rachel smooched from time to time in between the juvenile bickering (“We were on a break!”) and push-me-pull-you antics. And, mercifully for fans of the show, they got together in the very last episode.

But with Yang and Ballmer, it has been only juvenile bickering and push-me-pull-you antics 24/7, which is why BoomTown wishes they would just get a room.

A conference room to negotiate in, of course! (Get your minds out of the gutter!)

Instead, in the latest episode, it was Yang resorting to declaring in front of a ballroom full of Silicon Valley geeks at the Web 2.0 Summit on Wednesday: “To this day, I believe the best thing for Microsoft to do is to buy Yahoo.”

In a quick retort, from Australia of all places and on Yang’s 40th birthday, in fact, Ballmer bestowed this special gift back:

“Look, we made an offer, we made another offer. It was clear that Yahoo didn’t want to sell the business to us, and we moved on…We are not interested in going back and re-looking at an acquisition. I don’t know why they would be either, frankly.”

Shares of Yahoo (YHOO) have tanked almost 14 percent today after that, down $1.86 to $12.10.

Now, this kind of public display of nonaffection is not new for Ballmer, who previously raised and then tanked Yahoo’s stock price only two weeks ago, when he dangled the possibility that Microsoft might be interested in talking to Yahoo about a new search deal.

“There are probably still opportunities around search,” said Ballmer. “I think it would still make sense economically for their shareholders and ours.”

This cloddish phrasing by Ballmer was, no surprise, misconstrued by investors as full-scale interest in Yahoo, requiring a Microsoft (MSFT) spokesman to quickly enter the breach to clarify.

“Our position hasn’t changed. Microsoft has no interest in acquiring Yahoo; there are no discussions between the companies,” he said.

It’s astonishing that this is what passes for corporate behavior on both sides.

Aside from the silliness, because it still does make sense for the pair to be talking and forming some sort of strong relationship.

In my mind, the best idea was always the complex “Traffic Co.” deal that involved Microsoft buying a large piece of Yahoo, adding its lagging MSN assets in and taking over the entire search business of the entity.

As part of that configuration, the digital assets of a media giant like Time Warner (TWX) or News Corp. (NWS), which own AOL and MySpace respectively, could also be added in.

Thus, the “new” Yahoo would focus squarely on content and communications, which it would dominate across the Internet, keeping its display ad business. Meanwhile, Microsoft could then try to really turbocharge the search and search ad business and stop mucking around in arenas it had less talent in.

It’s a lot better than what’s going on right now, which helps neither company, both of which are clearly bumping along with a desperate need for clarity.

And, if they cannot come to some terms, Yahoo has to either move on and fix itself alone or complete its long-running merger talks with AOL or not (this pair is more like Sam and Diane on “Cheers”).

And Microsoft has to stop dithering and finally pick a digital head for its business (more on that next!), a search that is beginning to feel as if Amelia Earhart will be found sooner.

Or, like Ross and Rachel, Yang and Ballmer could just admit finally–despite all their differences over the last year–that they truly are meant for each other and get down to business.