Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Three Southern California Firms Building Blog Empires
News today that AOL has acquired technology news blog TechCrunch highlights the growing place of blog publishers in the online world. Here are three, Southern California blog networks which have quietly growing their network of properties:
BUZZMEDIA
(www.buzzmedia.com)
[Profile]
BUZZMEDIA has a network of music and entertainment news related blogs, including Buzznet, Celebuzz, Absolute Punk, GoFugYourself, JustJared, Stereogum, TheSuperficial, WWTDD, SocialiteLife, and Idolator. The firm has been squarely aimed at the content and blog world, with recent hires of editors from AOL's PopEater, and TMZ.com, to help build out its sites. It also powers the celebrity sites of such folks as Britney Spears, Kim Kardashian, and Nicole Richie. Venture backed by Anthem Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, New Enterprise Associates, Focus Ventures, Sutter Hill Ventures, and others.
MMC Media
(corp.mail.com)
[Profile]
Headed by automotive scion Jay Penske, MMC Media--until recently, Mail.com Media Corporation--has been building a Hollywood and entertainment focused empire, with such properties as Deadline Hollywood Daily, the go-to-source for breaking Hollywood and entertainment news; HollywoodLife.com, and online focused on news, beauty, fashion, and other celebrity news; and Movieline, and online magazine focused on movies. The firm is backed by Quadrangle Capital Partners.
ContentNext
(www.contentnext.com)
[Profile]
Since its acquisition in July of 2008 by The Guardian, and departure of founder Rafat Ali, ContentNext has continued to operate out of Santa Monica, and runs paidContent.org, mocoNews, contentSutra, and paidContent:UK. The firm is now run by Caroline Little, the CEO of Guardian Media North America.
Did we miss your favorite, Southern California blog empire? Let us know!