AFP, Washington :
Suddenly the online news business is red-hot. Money is flowing into digital news ventures at an unprecedented pace, as investors anticipate an accelerating shift away from traditional media, and new ways to generate revenue from news.
BuzzFeed made news this past week with a $200 million capital injection from Comcast’s NBCUniversal, and with the announcement of a joint venture with Yahoo Japan for Japanese readers.
Earlier this month, Vox Media also secured $200 million from NBCU as the startup seeks to ramp up its news websites including Vox.com, The Verge, Re/code and Bleacher Report.
Vox and BuzzFeed joined the club of “unicorns,” or venture-funded startups worth at least $1 billion, a group which also includes Vice Media, which unveiled a $500 million funding round last year.
The flood of capital to the sector suggests confidence in the ability of digital media to connect with readers-especially younger audiences which eschew traditional media-and generate profits, say analysts.
“Right now it’s an arms race. These are companies growing quickly and they have to grow quickly,” said Ken Doctor, a media analyst with the research firm Outsell.
Suddenly the online news business is red-hot. Money is flowing into digital news ventures at an unprecedented pace, as investors anticipate an accelerating shift away from traditional media, and new ways to generate revenue from news.
BuzzFeed made news this past week with a $200 million capital injection from Comcast’s NBCUniversal, and with the announcement of a joint venture with Yahoo Japan for Japanese readers.
Earlier this month, Vox Media also secured $200 million from NBCU as the startup seeks to ramp up its news websites including Vox.com, The Verge, Re/code and Bleacher Report.
Vox and BuzzFeed joined the club of “unicorns,” or venture-funded startups worth at least $1 billion, a group which also includes Vice Media, which unveiled a $500 million funding round last year.
The flood of capital to the sector suggests confidence in the ability of digital media to connect with readers-especially younger audiences which eschew traditional media-and generate profits, say analysts.
“Right now it’s an arms race. These are companies growing quickly and they have to grow quickly,” said Ken Doctor, a media analyst with the research firm Outsell.
