WebMediaBrands, the company that owns the popular Web portal mediabistro.com, is acquiring TVSpy.com from Vault, Inc. WebMediaBrands also owns the industry news/gossip site TVNewser.
Formerly known as ShopTalk, TVSpy is an aggregator of television industry news, and its Water Cooler message boards are a forum for lively industry gossip and opinions.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
WebMediaBrands Chairman/CEO Alan Meckler said TVSpy will undergo a total redesign in the coming weeks. He said the acquisition should boost the TV station job listings offered on mediabistro.com.
"It felt like a natural fit in terms of our other blogs--it fit right in," he said.. "The combination of TVSpy and TVNewser should further ensure our leadership in coverage of local and national broadcast and cable news on air and online."
TVNewser was hatched years ago by then-college student Brian Stelter, who now covers television and the media for the New York Times. Chris Ariens, Alex Weprin and Molly Stark Dean are the main TVNewser reporters/aggregators.
TVSpy announced the news on its message board. "With this acquisition, TVSpy renews its commitment to being the go-to platform for news, information, and discussion related to the broadcast news industry," it wrote. "TVSpy.com, the TVSpy message boards, and the ShopTalk e-newsletter will all remain largely unchanged for the near future and you can rest assured that future changes made to the TVSpy network will be made with the goal of better serving the exceptionally loyal TVSpy audience."
WebMediaBrands owns a network of 18 blogs covering all areas of the media, along with a job listings site and instructional classes.
Andrew Gauthier continues as editor of TVSpy.
Meckler said WebMediaBrands will stay in acquisition mode. "We've been reasonably acquisitive this year," he said, "and should continue to do so."
