Yahoo! (YHOO), CNBC form joint venture

Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) Finance announced that it will begin to show about 20 video segments each day covering the current action in the market. It has picked three hosts and the project will begin next month. It will allow the big financial web site the chance to give users breaking news from experts via web video, which has become a major part of the internet multimedia experience.

The Yahoo! move makes sense because advertising sold in online video brings a premium to display advertising. If consumers watch the new programming, Yahoo! Finance can increase its revenue.

Now, Yahoo! has decided to double down on its plan. It has formed a partnership with GE (NYSE: GE) cable channel CNBC to offer video clips from the network's shows on Yahoo! Finance.

"We're bringing together the leader on television with the leader online for financial content," Scott Moore, Yahoo!'s head of media, told the New York Times.

Yahoo! Finance has almost 30 times the unique visitors that CNBC.com does, so the joint venture will give the cable channel's programming a much wider audience.

Yahoo! Finance is on to something here. The advent of YouTube and other video sites has gotten internet consumers used to seeing video. CNBC will produce the content that Yahoo! uses for its TV audience anyway, so there is no additional production cost. Whatever money each party makes from the deal is gravy.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.