• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, July 7, 2005

Yahoo! Media Group on Wednesday announced the appointment of former Senior Vice President of CBS Television David Katz to run its sports and entertainment divisions. The move seems consistent with Yahoo!'s apparently broader Hollywood ambitions, which, some say, will ultimately lead the Internet company to be viewed as a media producer on par with Warner Bros. or CBS itself.

Effective immediately, Katz will oversee Yahoo! Sports, Yahoo! Entertainment, Yahoo! Movies, and Yahoo! TV. Katz will report to Lloyd Braun, head of the Yahoo! media group, and will be based in Santa Monica, Calif.

Yahoo! Media now boasts executives from all four major TV networks: Chief Business Officer Ira Kurgan came from Fox Broadcasting in late May, where he served as president of network business operations; Vice President of Content Operations Shawn Hardin spent seven years working with NBC as an executive vice president, chief product officer, and group general manager for NBC Internet (Hardin also served as senior vice president of broadband at AOL); and, of course, Lloyd Braun, former chairman of ABC Entertainment Television Group. Yahoo! is led by former Warner Bros. co-CEO Terry Semel.

Scott Moore, Yahoo! Media's newly appointed vice president of content operations, described Yahoo!'s strategy in a recent discussion with author Arianna Huffington, posted on her Web site: "Yahoo! today is literally at the intersection of Silicon Valley techno-culture and Hollywood media ... Both camps are simultaneously intrigued and repelled. I expect we'll produce beautiful children eventually, but the mating rituals can be awkward."

"The media landscape is undergoing fundamental change, with consumers and advertisers demanding more compelling interactive experiences," Katz said in a statement. "Yahoo is uniquely positioned to develop the next generation of content, and I'm thrilled to be joining this dynamic team."

Katz joins Yahoo! after eight years as an executive at CBS Television Network, where he was responsible for the strategic planning and Interactive ventures departments. He managed CBS.com as well as a team that produced Web sites for over 200 shows per year, including "Survivor," "Late Show with David Letterman," "The Grammys," and "CSI."