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Low-cost reality lifestyle programming aimed at female audiences – from Hoboken cake bakers to pro house flippers — has acted as a kind of revenue growth hormone for cable TV programmers over the last decade.
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And as they look to take a huge bite out of traditional TV’s nearly $50 billion in annual advertising spending over the next two years, big digital video companies Yahoo and YouTube are taking particular aim at the women’s lifestyle programming segment.
Trumpeting the debuts Monday of three new female targeted shows on Yahoo starring So You Think You Can Dance host Cat Deeley, designer Rebecca Minkoff and comedian and Chelsea Lately regular Michael Yo, as well as the renewal of five other programs from the portal’s women’s slate, Erin McPherson, who heads the acquisition and development of video programming for Yahoo, called the female 25-54 audience a “core demo” for her company. “It’s not just key for us, it’s key for our advertisers,” she said. “It’s a great place to start.”