Vox did not respond to a request for comment. Both NBCUniversal and BuzzFeed are headquartered in New York, but have large presences in Los Angeles.
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The company is also in discussions to invest in Vox Media, though the amount has not been disclosed. The media firm also houses an editorial team in the Fairfax District, and its video department works out of a 40,000-square-foot office across from the ArcLight Cinema in Hollywood.
NBCU also is negotiating to invest in Vox Media, the deal would value Vox at $850 million.
NBCUniversal owns channels including USA, Bravo, E! and MSNBC.
NBCUniversal would take a minority stake in Buzzfeed, which has been a leader in publishing provocative stories that quickly gain big traction on the Internet, such as whether a lacy dress is the color blue or the color gold, or a story this week on its website that carries the headline: “11 Things I learned being Queer in a “Straight” Relationship”.
People familiar with the proposed deals say they’re part of a new effort from NBCU CEO Steve Burke to bet on digital outlets he thinks can tap into millennial audiences, who are tuning out of NBCU’s TV networks and most others. BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti wants to expand the network’s reach beyond digital media, despite the fact that BuzzFeed.com manages to pull in about 200 million visitors each month.
BuzzFeed has been aggressively expanding its editorial operations to go beyond clickbait listicles and draw younger readers for video, news and features. “Through cleverly constructed “native ads” (produced by another department of the same company) or sponsored content, the site said it brought in more than $100 million in revenue previous year”.
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In the past few years there has been a flurry of investments in digital media companies, once thought to be toxic to investors.
