Looks like Interactive just bought a 51% stake in NYC-based ConnectedVentures, which runs CollegeHumor.com, among other sites (link to more deal info). Gawker reported last month that this was in the works, valuing the company somewhere between $20-30M. According to CollegeHumor’s media kit, the company displays ~280 million pages each month and has ~240,000 email subscribers.
At the same time, rumors are still circulating that Viacom will buy The Onion. The NY Post puts the price tag for this deal at only ~$10M (link).
While these are small deals, I think the moves make good sense: there’s real value in brands. In particular, both CollegeHumor and The Onion have fanatically loyal readers in a premium (ie young) demographic.
