Yahoo! dumps free video streams

NEWS Yahoo! is shutting down its free internet broadcasting service FinanceVision and its web-based radio services. Yahoo! claims the closures are part of its efforts to concentrate on subscription-based services and also said it no longer wishes to remain reliant on businesses that only generate revenue through advertising. The two closures, set to occur over the next week, will mean job losses for 30 employees. FinanceVision was launched in the dot-com boom of the late 1990s and provided users with streamed video clips of stock and business news free of charge. The radio channel became part of Yahoo! through its $5bn stock buyout of Broadcast.com in 1999, and was used to pipe local and national radio across the globe. Broadcast.com's radio streaming technology will not be dumped along with the service as Yahoo! intends to incorporate it into its streaming media service aimed at corporations.