In one week, Yahoo will report its third-quarter earnings, after the market closes.

And so far, its stock is showing signs that investors are hoping for better days ahead for the Internet giant.

Other good news: A pair of bullish analyst reports yesterday.

But, a spate of executive departures, with chances of more to come, are worrisome.

As is the excessive yodeling Yahoo is once again encouraging.

Read More »

Former Bebo CEO Joanna Shields and Shine Group Chairman and CEO Elisabeth Murdoch have formed a content start-up to produce across media platforms, both online and offline, with a focus on social engagement, according to sources.

The new venture, which does not have a name, is being financially backed by both Shine and Shields.

Based in London, it will invest, develop and partner to create a variety of content offerings that also incorporate interactive and social networking elements.

Read More »

Earlier this week, BoomTown pointed out how Cisco Chairman and CEO John Chambers was captured doing duck calls on the Flip digital video camera, made by the start-up his company bought in March for $590 million.

That was an adorable use of the consumer electronic device. But in the not-so-cute department, I submit this photo at right.

Sitting next to her boss, Barbara Walters, an ABC producer used it to ghoulishly take shots of the kids of pop legend Michael Jackson memorial service on Monday.

Read More »

On the spur of the moment yesterday–as Los Angeles was gridlocked by the memorial service for pop legend Michael Jackson–BoomTown decided to pay a quick visit to Harvey Levin, who runs TMZ.

Located on Sunset Boulevard–natch!–TMZ is the celebrity news Web site that actually broke the news of Jackson’s death, before any other media outlet.

And it has pretty much led the coverage as the sad story has unfolded–and keeps doing so.

Read More »

While she had almost nothing to do with the Internet, the Web still has a lot to do with Farrah Fawcett, especially today after the iconic Hollywood actress and model died after a long and well-documented battle with cancer.

Still, the massive online reaction to a more sudden and unexpected celebrity death yesterday–pop legend Michael Jackson, who was 50–pretty much drowned out Fawcett’s passing at 62 years old.

That’s too bad, since she was a genuine cultural phenom–and here is an online video to remind us of that.

Read More »

What’s one of the ways you might attract a lot of attention online? Here’s one possible equation: Celebrity + Mom + Tips Galore.

That’s the formula behind a new site relaunching today called Modern Mom, which is backed by “Dancing With the Stars” winner Brooke Burke and partner Lisa Rosenblatt, wading into what the pair hopes will be a lucrative market.

It’s an interesting effort to watch in online publishing, to see if the pair can attract both an audience and advertisers without a big brand name in the mother space and by leveraging Burke’s online and offline popularity.

Read More »

Dear Mark Cuban:

Apparently, Steve Wozniak, the ever-wackier-as-the-years-go-by co-founder of Apple, is taking up your geek banner on “Dancing With the Stars” and is a contestant on the eighth outing for the popular celebrity hoofing show on ABC.

He is among 13 “stars” who will start up their samba-and-tango death match on March 9.

Can Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang be far behind?

Read More »

In an interesting and innovative move compared to what has typically been less-than-hip online programming over the years, Microsoft’s MSN service is debuting a slick new celebrity site called Wonderwall today–created, designed and produced by a Hollywood company run by former Yahoo media chief and well-known television exec Lloyd Braun.

Using an unusual horizontal design with a scrolling “wall,” a plethora of pictures and a deeply visual sensibility, it’s definitely a laudable risk for Microsoft, as the company seeks to continue to push itself into the online content business, despite a lackluster record.

But will this time be wonderful?

Read More »

BoomTown is headed to the 2009 Sundance Film Festival today, an annual journey I make to moderate panels about the tech industry. The festival officially opened yesterday in Park City, Utah. While still largely a confab of independent filmmakers, Hollywood deal types and various celebrities rifling though swag orgies, a lot of geeks are there too.

Read More »

Not many online videos have sequels, but the one below–featuring a passel of celebrities, including Tom Cruise, Will Smith, Borat, Leonardo DiCaprio, Julia Roberts and Harrison Ford–is one and even has famed director Steven Spielberg at the helm.

It is a follow-up to a PSA I posted earlier this month, called “Hollywood Declares Themselves,” encouraging young people to vote.

Read More »

In a tempest-in-a-teapot political scandalette, Republican Presidential candidate Sen. John McCain used images of Paris Hilton and Britney Spears in a television ad attacking his Democratic opponent, Sen. Barack Obama, as a celebrity.

It was tasteless and also offensive to Hilton and Spears, which seems an almost impossible task–way to go!

Now, wasting no time in taking advantage of the brouhaha and drawing attention just where it should be–to herself, of course–Hilton did this clever video spoof for the Funny or Die comedy Web site.

Read More »

Yesterday, BoomTown was hanging in Hollywood at ContentNext’s EconCeleb’s conference, where I did an onstage Q&A with legendary editor Bonnie Fuller about the massive impact of the Internet on celebrity journalism.

With its instant ability to deliver news, video and more, sites like TMZ, PerezHilton, The Superficial and Yahoo’s omg! have become massive drivers of traffic on the Internet and–despite the saturation–the arena is still growing fast, especially among women users.

Read More »

At its EconCeleb conference in Hollywood today, ContentNext released its list of the most influential and innovative of online celebrities today.

It is an interesting and varied list, that includes every one from powerhouse Oprah (pictured here, of course!) to the bisexual sprite, Tila Tequila.

Read More »

Lloyd Braun–the former Hollywood super-programmer turned Yahoo entertainment czar turned Hollywood and online programmer–has signed a multimillion-dollar deal to make an original destination site for Microsoft’s MSN portal, aimed at aggregating celebrity, entertainment and pop culture news, according to several sources.

At the same time, Braun also inked a deal with Yahoo to create a daily online report of “weird news.”

Read More »

So I paid another visit to the folks who run what I consider one of the more excellent sites on the Web: TMZ.com.

I had previously posted a piece about the site in May, because I consider it one of the really great content sites on the Internet–using a nice blend of text, video, audio and [...]

Read More »