With the success of such shows as House of Cards and Orange Is the New Black, original programming on Internet-based platforms is proving to be a growing -- and viable -- industry. Noticing this clear pattern, Yahoo! has announced that they plan to launch their own line of original programming to rival such platforms as Microsoft and Netflix. And their ambitions are a bit loftier, too: they even want to compete with cable juggernaut HBO!

According to Mashable, Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer announced that her company is "close" to acquiring four original television series, which have budgets in the range of "a few million dollars" per episode. Though this isn't the first time that Yahoo! has offered original programming, it is the first time that it's offered original programming of this caliber. In addition, Mayer -- who didn't give a comment to Mashable for the story -- is trying to solidify her position as a force to be reckoned with in the online community by hiring Katie Couric to anchor Yahoo! News, and acquiring the entire back catalogue of Saturday Night Live.

But according to The Verge, nothing is set in stone quite yet when it comes to these shows. If these shows are indeed acquired, they would be made available through Yahoo! Screen, which can be accessed through an iOs app or on a browser.

Screen, however, is not as omnipresent as Amazon, Netflix, and/or Microsoft, who have made their apps available through every available platform, including on tablets, mobile devices, and televisions.

Yahoo! Inc. was founded by Jerry Yang and David Filo in January 1994 and was incorporated on March 1, 1995. On July 16, 2012, former Google executive Marissa Mayer was named as Yahoo CEO and President, effective July 17, 2012. According to comScore, Yahoo during July 2013 surpassed Google on the number of United States visitors to its Web sites for the first time since May 2011, set at 196 million United States visitors, having increased by 21 percent in a year.