Comcast SportsNet Bay Area and Yahoo Sports on Friday announced a partnership to produce "Yahoo SportsTalk Live," a new hour-long sports roundtable discussion show airing Monday-Friday at 5:00pm PT. The show, hosted by Jim Kozimor, will debut live today from the Yahoo campus in Sunnyvale, Calif. (CSN Bay Area). In S.F., Eric Young reported Yahoo replaces the S.F. Chronicle, which had sponsored the "Chronicle Live" show since '09. CSN Bay Area President & GM Ted Griggs said that "Yahoo SportsTalk Live" will have "more interactive elements shaping the show." Young noted the Yahoo deal is the "outgrowth of a content sharing deal between Yahoo and NBC Sports begun last year" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 5/31). Also in S.F., Benny Evangelista reported the deal "doesn't involve any exchange of money." For Yahoo, the deal is "another move to increase the visibility of its brand." Griggs said that the show will "include Yahoo's own sports staffers and fantasy sports experts, plus a greater use of social media and other technologies to get the latest trending topics among sports fans" (SFGATE.com, 5/31). EWEEK.com's Chris Preimesberger wrote the deal is the "first of its kind between a television network and a top-tier web services provider." It is "possible that if this all works out the way it's intended to work, that it will be a de facto pilot program for the 12 other Comcast regional sports networks in the U.S." Griggs said that under the deal, "most of the same Chronicle writers will continue to work alongside the Yahoo sports staff." Griggs added that in addition to the TV show, the deal with Yahoo "will make available extra exclusive content -- such as continued conversations from the broadcast show, additional interviews, and so on -- on both CSNBayArea.com and Yahoo.com's sports site" (EWEEK.com, 5/31).
