In the not-exactly-news department given that we wrote about rumors this would happen two weeks ago, but NBCUniversal today made it official – the old-guard media giant is investing $200 million in Vox Media, and is just about to announce a similar investment in BuzzFeed.
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Re/code, reporting on the story, said Vox and NBCUniversal will collaborate on digital advertising through a pre-existing partnership.
The pact will tie NBCU more closely with Vox sites like The Verge, SB Nation, Curbed, Racked and tech-news site Re/code.
The Wall Street Journal and Re/code (which was acquired by Vox earlier this year) both said that the deal values Vox at $1 billion, post-money. In December, Vox was said to be valued at about $380 million and it has been making moves to grow quickly in contrast to many legacy media companies.
Steve Burke, chief executive officer of NBCUniversal, stated: “Vox Media has strong leadership, top editorial talent and a unique technology platform”. Prior to the deal, NBCU parent company Comcast held a 14 percent stake in Vox through its investment arm, Comcast Ventures. The companies will also work on video advertising and programming; Vox Media staffers will also pop up more on CNBC and NBC.
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That may be a slight exaggeration at this point, but Comcast, America’s most hated company, is now in part powering the gifs at BuzzFeed and the so-called “independent” media provided by Vox Media, Inc. after it invested in both companies via its fully owned subsidiary NBCU. A report in Re/code puts that financial deal at close to $200 million. Nothing has been confirmed regarding a deal with BuzzFeed though. They also get strategic relationships with one of the biggest players in the TV world – which still dwarfs digital publishing when it comes to ad dollars and overall revenue.
