Alloy Digital Acquires Vid Syndicator DBG
Variety.com
Published: April 17, 2013
By Scott Spangler
Internet media firm Alloy Digital has bought Digital Broadcasting Group, one of the biggest online-video syndication networks, marking its sixth acquisition in past two years.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Companies said deal creates a “powerful digital force,” combining DBG’s video syndication network of 2,600 publishers with Alloy Digital’s digital distribution network and entertainment brands.
Purchase of DBG follows ABS Capital Partners’ $30 million series A investment in New York-based Alloy Digital, joining existing investor ZelnickMedia/ZM Capital.
Since July 2011, Alloy Digital has acquired five content creators, including comedy content creator Smosh; Generate, studio and talent management company; B5 Media, women’s lifestyle digital publishing and media network; Clevver Media, a top YouTube entertainment news provider; and The Escapist, vidgame culture publisher.
“This acquisition instantly creates a powerhouse modern media company, building on a platform agnostic content and distribution model that reflects the rapid pace of change in consumer media consumption,” Alloy Digital topper Matt Diamond said in a statement.
DBG topper and co-founder Chris Young, along with co-founders Rick Kleczkowski and Joseph Gomes, will join Alloy Digital management team, with Young heading marketing as chief marketing officer.
Most of DBG’s approximately 30 employees will join Alloy Digital, which previously had 215 staffers. Combined company will have headcount of about 240, with much of the integration of DBG into Alloy already completed, Diamond said.
Alloy and DBG combined will reach almost 80 million unique viewers monthly across its dedicated video platforms and deliver more than 1.5 billion video streams, according to comScore figures for January 2013.
Companies touted deal as also enhancing Alloy Digital’s content offerings across key demos and existing consumer segments, which currently encompass women’s lifestyle, men’s lifestyle, comedy, entertainment and gaming. DBG’s assets will provide additional categories such as sports, tech, health and travel, as well as extend its market reach beyond Alloy’s core 12-34 aud.
Alloy Digital Acquires Digital Broadcasting Group
The Hollywood Reporter.com
Published: April 17, 2013
By Paul Bond
The combined company is expected to reach 80 million unique viewers each month.
Internet media company Alloy Digital, owner of Smosh, the most-subscribed channel on YouTube, has paid an undisclosed sum to acquire Digital Broadcasting Group, a creator, producer and distributor of content.
The companies said in a release Wednesday that the combined entity will reach nearly 80 million unique visitors monthly across its video platforms and deliver more than 1.5 billion streams.
Alloy, which has online networks and shows focusing on lifestyle, comedy, gaming and entertainment, immediately enters new categories like sports, technology, health and travel via the acquisition.
Beyond Smosh, some of Alloy's more popular brands reaching its core audience of 12- to 34-year-olds, include ClevverTV, Crushable, The Gloss, Gurl, Teen and The Escapist.
Chris Young, co-founder and CEO of Digital Broadcasting Group -- which has produced content for brands like Ford, Sprint, the U.S. Air Force and Coca-Cola -- will join Alloy Digital as the combined company's chief marketing officer. Digital Broadcasting Group also co-produced and distributed The Confession, a web "TV" series starring Kiefer Sutherland and John Hurt.
"This acquisition instantly creates a powerhouse modern media company, building on a platform agnostic content and distribution model that reflects the rapid pace of change in consumer media consumption," said Alloy Digital CEO Matt Diamond.
Alloy Digital is backed financially by ABS Partners and Zelnick Media/ZM Capital.
Owner of Teen.com grows up with big buy
Crains
Published: April 17, 2013
By Matthew Flamm
Alloy Digital, owner of popular youth-market properties Teen.com, Smosh and Clevver Media, is growing up. On Wednesday, the company announced that it was expanding beyond its 12-to-34-year-old Web audience with the purchase of Digital Broadcasting Group.
Primarily an online video distribution company, with proprietary video players that carry syndicated content across some 2,600 sites, DBG also produces webisodic programming for the 18-to-49-year-old crowd. Among its better known productions was the 2011 thriller The Confession, which starred Kiefer Sutherland.
Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Both companies are based in Manhattan.
The deal comes two weeks before the Digital Content NewFronts, which will kick off on April 29 and give Web channels and producers the chance to promote their programming to the advertising community. Alloy Digital will present eight new productions at the event.
Alloy can now add the sports, tech, health and travel categories to a range of offerings that was previously focused on comedy, entertainment, gaming and men's and women's lifestyle. The DBG network also adds an audience of 71 million unique visitors to Alloy's 24 million, according to comScore VideoMetrix.
"The Alloy portfolio contains strength in its owned-and-operated websites," said Alloy Digital CEO Matt Diamond in an interview. "DBG's unique strength is in video syndication—taking video and getting it out en masse. So now we've greatly enhanced the video side of the equation."
Once the sister company of Gossip Girls creator Alloy Entertainment, which is now part of Warner Bros. Television, 16-year-old Alloy has bought five content companies in the past two years. They include Smosh, which the company describes as the No. 1 subscribed YouTube channel in the world. Recently, ABS Capital Partners made a Series A investment of $30 million in Alloy.
Mr. Diamond believes Alloy can now offer advertisers the 18-to-49-year old audience that is becoming increasingly hard to find on television as the audience for broadcast and cable shows skews older. Executives at both Alloy and DBG see their combined company as the new media version of a traditional TV network.
"It's very analogous to a Viacom of yesterday," said Chris Young, CEO and co-founder of DBG, who will now become chief marketing officer of Alloy Digital. "We're a next generation media shop."
Correction: The Digital Content NewFronts begin on April 29, 2013. Alloy Digital will present eight new productions at the event. ComScore VideoMetrix tracks traffic for DBG and Alloy. These facts were misstated in an earlier version of this article, published online April 17, 2013.
Alloy Digital gets new ally in Digital Broadcasting Group
LA Times.com
Published: April 17, 2013
By Joe Flint
Alloy Digital has a new ally.
The owner of popular young-adult websites, including Smosh.com, Gurl.com and Teen.com, said it is acquiring Digital Broadcasting Group, a new-media production and distribution company.
Besides its distribution reach, DBG is best known for branded entertainment, which is entertainment programming built around a consumer product. It has created content for Ford, Unilever, Sprint and Coca-Cola.
DBG is now starting to create its own original Web series. Among its new projects is the comedy "Dropping the Soap," about a fading daytime soap opera actress, produced by former "Friends"costar Lisa Kudrow and "Glee" star Jane Lynch, who will also star.
For Alloy, the move will potentially give it more reach for its content. The two companies combined have almost 80 million unique visitors, Alloy said.
Video Network Alloy Bulks Up by Buying DBG
All Things D
Published: April 17, 2013
By Peter Kafka
Last month Web video network Alloy Digital raised $30 million. Maybe this is where some of that is going: Alloy has acquired rival DBG.
The move will give the combined company a reach of 80 million, says Alloy CEO Matt Diamond. DBG co-founder and CEO Chris Young will come aboard as Alloy’s new chief marketing officer.Videoink covered the story earlier.
Both companies make most of their money connecting advertisers, video owners and video watchers, but both companies have also been taking stabs at creating and/or owning video content themselves. Alloy, for instance, now owns YouTube sensation Smosh; and two years ago DBG footed the bill for “The Confession,” a “24”-like Web series starring Kiefer Sutherland.
