Yahoo signs exclusive deal for ‘Saturday Night Live’ back catalog (update)

Saturday Night Live is coming to Yahoo. CEO Marissa Mayer announced today that the show’s entire 38-year back catalog will be available through Yahoo thanks to a new exclusive deal with Broadway Video. The content includes dress rehearsal footage and other extras, and will be available across Yahoo’s sites beginning September 1st, according to a press release posted by Engadget. The terms of the deal state that SNL’s archives will be pulled from other streaming services (i.e., Hulu and Netflix) for one year, and Yahoo will also get non-exclusive distribution rights to show clips outside of the US.

Yahoo has been on a roll lately, acquiring new talent and disposing of old products as management tries to re-invent the company. Last week, the company launched new weather and mail apps for mobile devices, along with a new iPhone app that integrates recent acquisition Summly earlier this week.

Update: The deal is being touted as a Yahoo “exclusive,” but according to sources, even though the library SNL Clips will no longer be available on Hulu, current season and library of SNL Episodes will, as will current season clips. The news takes a bit of the thunder away from Yahoo’s announcement, but confirms that if you want to pull up the Lazy Sunday video, Yahoo is going to be your only option.