Media consolidation continues: MediaBistro to JupiterMedia for $23 million
Consolidation continues across print and online properties.
Nine-year-old journalist watering hole Media Bistro, based in media battleground New York City, got bought by JupiterMedia for $23 million. This comes as media tycoon Rupert Murdoch gets closer to buying the Wall Street Journal parent, Dow Jones, and Google’s ad network extending owernership of newspaper advertising space.
Consolidation in media also means self-referentalism in the news. For example, Media Bistro’s arch-rival in New York media blogging, Gawker, snarks about how few readers Media Bistro had, suggesting the price was too high:
“The kids at Gawker are going to go crazy tomorrow,” predicted LA Observed last night. Well, yes. We are. Like, we might have to be put in protective custody. For Mediabistro, everyone’s favorite amalgamation of freelancer message boards and half-hearted blogs, which gets 50,000 unique visitors a month, has been acquired for $23 million by Jupitermedia. (That’s $38 for each person who came to their website last year!)
It’s no doubt fully informed about the sharp-elbowed back-room dealings that must have been going on when Media Bistro was shopping itself around for the desired price of $25 million.
Even if the site isn’t large, Mediabistro’s street cred among journalist types may be a good fit here. Its cross-focus between blogging, a job board and events will be integrated into Jupiter’s mix of web sites, trade shows and other operations.
Next Story: Jajah stays scrappy on VoIP, mobilizes Indian masses
Previous Story: Redfin cuts out real estate agents, raises another $12M
About the Author, Eric Eldon
Eric currently covers digital media technology and business news, especially what's happening on social networks and their platforms. He also writes and edits stories about venture capital, and lots of other stuff, too. He started at VentureBeat in the spring of 2007, half a year or so after Matt Marshall left his reporting job at the San Jose Mercury News to found the site. Eric previously cofounded a startup called Writewith, that was building editorial software for newspapers and other groups of writers. The startup didn't work out, but he learned a lot.