NBCU Ups Its Share of Vox Media

Comcast’s NBCUniversal confirmed it would invest $200 million in Vox Media, a maneuver that will give the company a stake in a passel of media assets that are not wholly dependent on ad-supported video at a time when that business, the company’s main source of income, is in flux.

David spoke with Vox CEO Jim Bankoff, who said that the two sides will be “producing video programming for our respective audiences, producing brand advertisers that are looking to achieve premium audiences”.

NBCUniversal, which is owned by Comcast Corp., said Wednesday that it hopes to build a partnership with Vox that involves collaborating on editorial content, advertising and technology.

The Wall Street Journal reported last month that the media conglomerate was considering investments in several companies, including Vice Media and BuzzFeed.

Re/Code reports that the investment values Vox at more than $1 billion.

NBCUniversal, a subsiduary Comcast Corporation, owns and operates a large portfolio of news and entertainment television networks, a film company, television prodcos, and theme parks.

The premise for both investments is relatively straightforward from NBCU’s perspective: The company, which has more or less ignored digital publishing since Comcast acquired it a few years ago, gets significant stakes in fast-growing digital publishers. Vox Media, which is made up of eight websites focused on sports, politics, food, fashion and technology, has gained strong traction among younger readers, with 41% of its combined 54.1 million unique visitors in June falling between the ages of 18 and 34, according to comScore Inc.

It has been reported that NBCUniversal plans to invest $200 million to $250 million in Buzzfeed. That may help them learn a bit about the industry, and it will also make it easier for them to acquire one or both companies if it wants to pull that trigger down the road.