After failing to generate much interest in their own comedy site, HBO has decided to acquire a stake in the comedy Web site of Will Ferrell: Funny Or Die. Their former site called "ThisJustIn," never gained any traction.
Per terms of the deal, the company has commissioned 10 half-hours of comedy from the site, while also making an unspecified direct investment in the company, which is said to be less than 10 percent.
It hasn't be revealed yet as to whether content will be taken directly from the Ferrell site, or if streaming content from the site is part of the deal.
Will Ferrell commented in his usual humorous way, saying, “I don’t want to overstate the importance of this deal, but this is the missing link moment where TV and internet finally merge. It will change the way we as human beings perceive and interact with reality. Okay, I overstated it…but it is an exciting deal.”
Young Hillary Clinton Clip
The site is said to have had over 213 million video views, and averages 3.2 million unique visitors a month. With those numbers, I don't know how the second round of financing last year by Sequoia Capital ended up valuing the company at about $100 million, but it did. That's more hype and wishful thinking than it is a reality.
So far the star power, along with the big online hit, "The Landlord" has been helping hold the company together. With the tremendous online competition from other comedy sites, as well as failure of some other big Web comedy sites, that in itself is a accomplishment.
The company has also been gravitating toward more verticals to include sports, gaming and food, while looking to add more video verticals to the mix.
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