Outdoor Channel Holdings Acquires MyOutdoorTV.com

February 17, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Outdoor Channel Holdings has acquired MyOutdoorTV.com, an online provider of hunting, fishing and shooting content. The site, which has a dedicated library of more than 300 television shows and 8,400 online videos on the outdoor lifestyle, will join Outdoor Channel’s digital network of web sites, including OutdoorChannel.com, Downrange.tv, Cascity.com, Lake-link.com and OutdoorChannelOutfitters.com, to create one of the top online networks for outdoor enthusiasts. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Launched in 2006, MyOutdoorTV.com offers a variety of long form programming in the hunting, shooting, fishing and conservation categories produced by legendary outdoor personalities, such as Bill Dance. It also features short form content, including more than 400 “how to” and gear reviews along with educational and wildlife refuge videos through its partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and over 35 state agencies. MyOutdoorTV has included Ford, Sprint, Cabela’s, Evinrude, U.S. Army, and Arctic Cat among its advertisers. In 2009, its top performing year, MyOutdoorTV garnered a total of 1.4 million unique visits and 7.7 million page views.

“MyOutdoorTV is a well-recognized player in the digital outdoor space, and as a leading multiplatform provider of content for outdoor enthusiasts, adding MyOutdoorTV to Outdoor Channel’s portfolio aggressively expands our digital footprint while also strengthening our online content library,” said Tom Hornish, Chief Operating Officer, Outdoor Channel. “This acquisition combines two powerful outdoor content sites and continues our strategy of maximizing the ongoing appeal of the Outdoor Channel brand, celebrity power and our high quality cross platform programming for our viewers, producers and advertisers.”

OutdoorChannel.com serves as the anchor property in Outdoor Channel’s digital network – a digital network that, according to comScore, attracted a total of 13 million unique visits, 73 million page views and 21 million visitors in 2010. In December 2010, Outdoor Channel’s digital network ranked among the top 8 percent of all properties and web sites in comScore’s sports category.

Chris Moise, former Founder and CEO and Dave Barton, Director of Programming at MyOutdoorTV have been working with the Outdoor Channel’s digital team to aid with content acquisition and online partnerships.  They will now be heavily focused on continuing the growth of MyOutdoorTV.

USA, Temecula, CA

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Great Hill Partners backs All Web Leads to acquire InsuranceLeads.com

February 17, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

All Web Leads, an online sales lead generation company supplying the US insurance industry, has acquired InsuranceLeads.com, a provider of online leads to insurance agents, brokers and carriers. To finance the acquisition All Web Leads has teamed with Great Hill Partners, a Boston-based private equity firm with over $2.5 billion under management, who have made a majority investment in the combined entity. All Web Leads’ current executive team will lead the combined company, which will continue to be based in Austin, Texas. Morgan Keegan served as an advisor to All Web Leads, Inc for the transaction. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

“We are very excited to welcome the InsuranceLeads.com team to the All Web Leads family,” said Bill Daniel, CEO of All Web Leads, Inc. “This acquisition will create tremendous additional value for the insurance agents, brokers and carriers that purchase Internet leads by more closely matching their business needs and those of online consumers.”

“All Web Leads has built an impressive, data-driven online marketing business focused on the insurance sector,” said Michael Kumin of Great Hill Partners. “We are pleased to partner with Bill and the team at

USA, Austin, TX

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Generation Zero Group acquires physician online job board PhysicianWork.com

February 17, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Generation Zero Group’s newly formed wholly-owned subsidiary MedicalWork has merged with StaffMD.  As a result of the merger, the Company acquired StaffMD’s business known as PhysicianWork.com, which is a leading online job-posting website for physicians.  PhysicianWork.com has been in business in excess of ten years, and its online job network also includes DoctorWork.com and LocumTenensWork.com.

In addition to the job posting business, the Company acquired StaffMD’s portfolio of domain names.  This portfolio includes the URL PhysicianJobs.com which is currently directed to PhysicianWork.com.  Jeffrey Sisk, the founder of PhysicianWork.com will remain in charge of MedicalWork, LLC, and the PhysicianWork.com business after the merger.

The Company intends to aggressively manage PhysicianWork.com as the online recruiting market continues to expand.  PhysicianWork will remain focused solely on the physician community.  The Company intends to monetize the portfolio of URL’s that were acquired in the transaction which include PhysicianJobs.com.  This process may include licensing the URL’s or developing the URL’s internally or in some type of joint venture.

Commenting on the announcements, Generation Zero Group, Inc. Chief Executive Officer Matthew Krieg added, “Jeff Sisk has done a great job of building PhysicianWork.com into a leader in its field.  PhysicianWork’s annual revenues have ranged between $700,000 and $1.7 million over the last five years and it is a high margin business.  We are focused on keeping the revenues at or above the high end of this range and utilizing the portfolio of URLs we acquired to develop new revenue sources.  If we are able to meet our goals with this acquisition and the Find.com acquisition from last summer, we hope to look to move the Company to a listing on a higher exchange as soon as we can meet the particular exchange’s criteria.”

USA, Atlanta, GA

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BUZZMEDIA acquires women’s entertainment & lifestyle website The Frisky from Turner Broadcasting

February 17, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

BUZZMEDIA has acquired The Frisky from Turner Broadcasting System.

Launched in 2008, and focused on entertainment news, celebrity, fashion and women’s lifestyle, The Frisky had more than 2 million average monthly readers in 2010 (as measured by comScore) and fits with BUZZMEDIA’s portfolio of digital pop culture brands like Celebuzz, JustJared, Buzznet, Concrete Loop, Stereogum, TheSuperficial, SocialiteLife and GoFugYourself.

“As with other BUZZMEDIA brands, The Frisky has a trusted voice that millions have invited into their daily lives,” said Doug Rohrer, BUZZMEDIA’s Chief Revenue Officer. “Its users chase the intelligence, maturity and humor of its content, and this connection serves as the foundation for the high engagement and influence that are the core of BUZZMEDIA’s work.”

USA, Los Angeles, CA

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Mindspark acquires the VoxPop gaming platform

February 17, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Mindspark Interactive Network, an operating business of IAC, has acquired the pop culture gaming platform developed by VoxPop Network Corp., one of the largest pop culture gaming companies in the market. The gaming platform is used by many of the leading entertainment and media sites on the web.

The VoxPop platform, including its trivia engine, has been used to power pop culture games in genres ranging from music to news. The technology enables the fast and flexible creation of new trivia game mechanics across a spectrum of product types and genres, and will serve as the platform for several products to be featured on Mindspark brand IWON, one of the Internet’s original casual gaming destinations and a top 20 online gaming site*. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

USA, White Plains, NY

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Platts to acquire OPIS (update – deal terminated)

February 15, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Update February 15, 2011: UCG is no longer selling its wholly-owned subsidiary, Oil Price Information Service, LLC (OPIS), to Platts, a division of the McGraw-Hill Companies. Apparently UCG terminated the agreement.

Platts, a leading global provider of energy and metals information and a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, today announced an agreement to acquire Oil Price Information Service, (OPIS) from United Communications Group (“UCG”), a privately held business information provider.  OPIS, which is headquartered in Gaithersburg, Maryland, is a leading provider of news and price information to the wholesale and retail petroleum markets in North America. The purchase price was not disclosed. The acquisition is expected to be completed in the first half of 2011, subject to regulatory approval.

“OPIS is a great complement to Platts.  It supports our growth strategy by expanding our presence in North America and extending our price reporting into the wholesale and retail petroleum markets,” said Larry Neal, president of Platts.  “The combination of Platts and OPIS data will bring greater transparency to the markets by giving customers greater insight into the petroleum supply chain – from crude trading to retail sales.”

Neal added that Platts expects to maintain OPIS’ products and services. “We intend to build on OPIS’ respected position in the market, its track record in product development, talented staff and committed customer base to enhance the value of its offerings and serve a larger audience.”

OPIS CEO Brian Crotty said, “We are delighted to join forces with a firm that is so well-respected within the energy industry.  With the credibility and resources of Platts and McGraw-Hill behind us, we will be able to expand our product and service offerings to customers and develop new ways to serve the energy information markets.”

Founded in 1977, OPIS provides posted prices for more than 400 wholesale terminals and retail fuel prices for over 120,000 gas stations.  In addition to serving the rack and retail markets, it produces 4,000 price assessments for seven U.S. spot markets.  Its broad customer base includes refiners, traders, brokers, large end-users, suppliers, wholesalers, fleets and consumers.  The company maintains a database of more than five billion historical spot, rack and retail prices and delivers the majority of its news and pricing information to customers electronically.

USA, New York, NY & Gaithersburg, MD

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UberMedia close to acquiring TweetDeck

February 14, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

According to the Financial Times, who quote people “people familiar with the negotiations.”, UberMedia is close to completing the acquisition of London based TweetDeck.

TweetDeck was first launched in 2008 by Iain Dodsworth, it is personal browser for connecting across Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and more. Investors include the Accelerator Group, Betaworks and ProFounders Capital.

TweetDeck has raised $3.5m but as yet has not generated significant revenues. The transaction would value the company at $25m-$30m.
UberMedia has also acquired UberTwitter, Echofon, and Twidroyd. UberMedia is headquartered at Idealab (www.idealab.com) in Pasadena, CA.

USA, Pasadena, CA & UK, London

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Meebo has acquired ad targeting company Mindset Media

February 9, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Online sharing platform Meebo has acquired ad targeting company Mindset Media. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

In December last year Meebo closed a $27.5 million Series D round, bringing Meebo’s total financing to $70 million.They announced that the funds would be used to support the acceleration of Meebo’s growth.
Meebo’s investors include Khosla Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Time Warner, True Ventures and JAFCO.

USA, New York, NY

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HTC makes strategic investment in mobile content delivery services business Saffron Digital

February 9, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Mobile telecoms firm company HTC is making a strategic investment in London-based mobile content delivery services business Saffron Digital.

Saffron Digital has experienced a successful year with its innovative technology integrated into products and services in Europe by HTC, LG, Paramount Digital Entertainment, Sony Ericsson, T-Mobile and Nokia, among others, and in the US by Samsung. It has entered into partnerships with industry-leading companies such as Microsoft, and Widevine, to ensure that customers are given the best possible video experience across a range of devices.

“HTC’s investment increases our global expansion capabilities and provides us with an opportunity to expand into new markets like Asia and new sectors like games and music delivery,” says Shashi Fernando, CEO of Saffron Digital. “We have grown Saffron Digital into one of the best and most exciting digital service providers in the world and this enables us to take digital content delivery to a new level for our customers around the world.”

Saffron Digital will continue to provide its media and content services to its third party partners, which include device manufacturers, network operators and content providers in 26 countries. The company’s headquarters will remain in London and Los Angeles while its management team will continue unchanged.

Taiwan, Taoyuan & UK, London

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AOL acquires The Huffington Post

February 9, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

AOL has agreed to purchase The Huffington Post for $315 million, approximately $300 million of which will be paid in cash funded from cash on hand. The Huffington Post is privately owned by its two cofounders, as well as a group of investors. The transaction is expected to close in the late first- or early second-quarter 2011.

As part of the transaction, Arianna Huffington, The Huffington Post’s Co-founder and Editor-in-Chief, will be named President and Editor-in-Chief of The Huffington Post Media Group, which will integrate all Huffington Post and AOL content, including Engadget, TechCrunch, Moviefone, MapQuest, Black Voices, PopEater, AOL Music, AOL Latino, AutoBlog, Patch, StyleList, and more.

“The acquisition of The Huffington Post will create a next-generation American media company with global reach that combines content, community, and social experiences for consumers,” said Tim Armstrong, Chairman and CEO of AOL. “Together, our companies will embrace the digital future and become a digital destination that delivers unmatched experiences for both consumers and advertisers.”

Armstrong continued, “Arianna is a singularly passionate and dedicated champion of innovative journalistic engagement, and a master of the art of using new media to illuminate, entertain and enhance the national conversation. Arianna is a remarkable person and she will continue to create remarkable outcomes for the combined company.”

“This is truly a merger of visions and a perfect fit for us,” said Huffington. “The Huffington Post will continue on the same path we have been on for the last six years – though now at light speed – by combining with AOL. Our readers will still be able to come to The Huffington Post at the same URL, and find all the same content they’ve grown to love, plus a lot more – more local, more tech, more entertainment, more finance, and lots more video. We are fusing a legendary and powerful new media brand with a vibrant, innovative news organization, known for its distinctive voice, a highly engaged audience, an expertise in community-building, and a track record for demystifying the news and putting flesh and blood on the data while drawing our audience into the conversation.”

Huffington continued, “By uniting AOL and The Huffington Post, we are creating one of the largest destinations for smart content and community on the Internet. And we intend to keep making it better and better.”
The Huffington Post over-indexes on educated, affluent users, reaching the key decision makers in C-suites around the globe. The Huffington Post speaks to this influential audience via a host of prominent voices on its group blog. Among those who have blogged on The Huffington Post are: President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Larry Page, Diane Sawyer, Buzz Aldrin, Nora Ephron, Bill Maher, Madeleine Albright, Robert Redford, Katie Couric, Neil Young, Rahm Emanuel, Mia Farrow, Senator Russ Feingold, Senator Al Franken, Ari Emanuel, Harry Shearer, Senator John Kerry, Representative Nancy Pelosi, Madonna, Lawrence Summers, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ryan Reynolds, Craig Newmark, Alec Baldwin, Aaron Sorkin, Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, Russell Simmons, Sean Penn, Bill Gates, Norman Lear, Charlie Rose, Elizabeth Warren, Tavis Smiley, Sheryl Sandberg, George Clooney, and former President Bill Clinton. And the audience speaks back, generating four million comments a month***.
The Huffington Post’s affluent, influential audience, that is growing at a rate of 22 percent (December 2009 vs. December 2010)****, when combined with AOL’s massive scale, video offerings and local expertise, will represent an incredibly desirable demographic for a broad range of advertising partners across the board.

Location: USA, New York, NY

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