Yahoo! will add streaming video content from ABC News and CNN.com to the Yahoo News section of its Web site beginning next month.

"Video content is becoming an increasingly important component of the online news experience for Yahoo News users," Scott Moore, vice president of Yahoo content operations, said in a statement.

The clips will be free and advertising-supported. The site will be one of the first to give ABC News fans a chance to see ABC News content online for free. (It's typically behind a pay wall from ABC or partners like Real Networks.)

CNN.com is expected to provide breaking news and business, technology, political reports and more. ABC video is supposed to cover top news stories, entertainment and politics. AP is also set to expand its video offering through Yahoo! in the third quarter.

Since news portals like Yahoo! have been credited with undermining newspaper circulation already, it will be interesting to see what happens after television VOD content is added.

I checked out Yahoo!'s current video quality with its current AP feeds. If your browser has a Windows Media, RealPlayer, or QuickTime plugin, you should be set to go. I use firefox and block popup windows. It appears that Yahoo's ads must be attempting to come through a popup window. Still, everything worked just fine and the quality was acceptable.