Comcast expanding its interest in new media
Comcast Corp. isn't commenting, nor is its news and entertainment subsidiary, NBCUniversal. But industry observers cast few doubts on reports that NBCUniversal plans to buy into BuzzFeed, one of the iconic names in new media, and raise its stake in Vox Media, owner of familiar online brands such as Verge and SB Nation.
Comcast Corp. isn't commenting, nor is its news and entertainment subsidiary, NBCUniversal.
But industry observers cast few doubts on reports that NBCUniversal plans to buy into BuzzFeed, one of the iconic names in new media, and raise its stake in Vox Media, owner of familiar online brands such as Verge and SB Nation.
The plans were first reported by Re/code, a Vox property. Quoting unnamed sources Friday, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times both said NBCUniversal was poised to invest $250 million in BuzzFeed - about a one-sixth stake at a $1.5 billion valuation - and raise its 14 percent ownership share in Vox.
Industry analyst Jeff Kagan said Comcast's interest in new media was likely fueled when federal regulators blocked its proposed $45 billion acquisition of Time Warner Cable.
As the nation's largest cable and broadband provider, Philadelphia-based Comcast generates lots of cash: It counted $3.5 billion at the end of the last quarter. Kagan said it has good reason to expand beyond its core businesses.
"The stand-alone cable industry won't exist in the next five or 10 years as it has in the past," he said. "These are the companies we're going to be hearing about over the next decade. The question is, how do you find the few that will make it?"
BuzzFeed, which has hired journalists and expanded overseas, has gone far beyond its widely copied (and parodied) "listicles," such as "19 Tricks Cats Use to Train Their Humans," said Joseph Turow, a media and advertising scholar at the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg School for Communication.
Describing itself as a "social news and entertainment company," BuzzFeed counts more than 200 million unique monthly visitors, half of them between 18 and 34 years old. It is also a master of "native advertising," creating ads designed to appear like the editorial or entertainment content of the medium in which they appear. Turow said such ads are popular because traditional display ads are widely being blocked.
"Some people see BuzzFeed as a precursor to a new kind of journalistic outlet," Turow said. "They have aspirations to do more than the gossip journalism they're typically known for, and Comcast may see that as a way to enhance the NBCU connection."
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