NBCU Invests Another $200M In BuzzFeed
The cozy relationship between NBCUniversal and BuzzFeed just became a little cozier as Comcast’s entertainment arm invested an additional $200 million in the digital news and entertainment network.
NBCU will sell ads for BuzzFeed; they’ll team to develop advertiser-friendly digital video content; and BuzzFeed will expand its food-oriented Tasty platform, as well as digital video operations in Los Angeles, New York and elsewhere.
NBCUniversal Digital Enterprises President Maggie Suniewick says they hope to “collaborate in more innovative ways that drive value for both companies.”
And BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti says the additional cash “allows us to remain a fully independent company but have access to and resources from the strongest and best media company there is.”
The transaction follows NBCU’s $200 million investment in BuzzFeed in August.
Since then they’ve collaborated to help sell ads, promote the 2016 Rio Olympics on Snapchat and put content from Tasty on NBC’s Today.
BuzzFeed Executive Chairman Kenneth Lerer says the new cash from NBCU “will allow us to continue to build out our footprint, invest in new products and continue to aggressively grow our revenue.”
In a Newfront presentation to advertisers in May, BuzzFeed CMO Frank Cooper said his company was “still in the early days of the partnership” with NBCU.
Cooper urged advertisers to look at BuzzFeed as a force as meaningful to today’s pop culture as Motown and Def Jam once were in music. “BuzzFeed gets it,” he said, by offering “human connection at scale ” that “can apply to brands … to tap into that special connection we have with our audience.”
BuzzFeed said it would work with “select” brands and agencies to “make those brands an authentic part of culture.”
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