"Our great attributes are interactive," said Semel, the former co-CEO of Warner Bros. "We (Yahoo is the new Google) have huge audiences who themselves are the programmer."

From Lloyd Braun: "We believe Scott Moore has the right combination of media and Internet experience, leadership skills and business acumen to help realize the full potential of our media offerings."
The addition of a senior executive with Moore's background increases the expectations for Braun's group -- and the speculation (PaidContent)

Among other moves, Yahoo recently signed a deal to buy Canadian photo-sharing startup Flickr Inc., which lets people upload digital photos, publish photos in their blogs and share digital photo albums. Another recently launched Yahoo site lets users search for writings, lyrics, photos and other content authored by people who want others to use their ideas as the basis for new creations -- the so-called "Creative Commons." Then there's the newly announced social networking service, Yahoo 360.

It all speaks to Yahoo executives' excitement about "micropublishing" -- letting the portal's users create content attractive to fellow users that will encourage people to hang around in Yahoo's virtual world.

It's a vision shared by others who see a future where people aren't just passive viewers of content but participate in creating the "TV shows" of tomorrow.

One company built on the concept is Brightcove, a startup that envisions a day when "Internet Television" offers thousands of channels of content, some produced by traditional TV companies and much produced by individuals as the cost of digital cameras and editing tools drops.