Latest in BuzzFeed

BuzzFeed sales jumped 51% last quarter to $89 million on gains in advertising and commerce as the digital media publisher prepares to go public via a SPAC merger and acquire another company, Complex Networks. Ad revenue increased 79% to $48 million, driven by higher pricing on programmatic and an increase in the total…

Forbes Global Media, the business information brand that started with a 104-year-old magazine, is going public by merging with a SPAC — or special purpose acquisition company — in a deal that values the company at $630 million. The news hits amid a wave of digital media deals including a major one earlier today when…

Lionsgate and BuzzFeed have set the LGBTQ romantic comedy My Fake Boyfriend as the partnership’s second production, with the film to star Keiynan Lonsdale, Dylan Sprouse and Sarah Hyland. Directed by Rose Troche (The Safety of Objects, The L Word), the film follows a young man (Lonsdale) who, on the advice of his best…

UPDATED with details from press conference: Buzzfeed founder and CEO Jonah Peretti and Adam Rothstein, executive chairman of the SPAC that's taking it public, both said they see many more acquisitions in the company's future. "We are hoping to really build an M&A machine," said Rothstein of the special purpose…

Verizon is exploring a sale of Yahoo and AOL that would end a rocky era for the telco as a media owner after a spate of disappointing acquisitions. A sale could bring $4 billion to $5 billion and giant investment group Apollo Global Management is said to involved, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. Reps…

BuzzFeed said Tuesday that it will cut the size of the staff of HuffPost after it acquired the news site. The cuts will affect 47 employees in the U.S., while HuffPost Canada is closing and HuffPost Australia will be moving away from local coverage, according to a BuzzFeed spokesperson. They also will look at…

EXCLUSIVE: In a competitive situation, Peacock has landed for development What She Said, an hourlong series from Erika Green Swafford (New Amsterdam) and Good Girls creator Jenna Bans. The project hails from Universal Television and BuzzFeed Studios and stems from Green Swafford and Bans’ overall deals and BuzzFeed’s…

BuzzFeed is acquiring HuffPost, as part of a strategic partnership with Verizon Media that marks the latest evolution in the digital media landscape. Verizon Media, the current owner of HuffPost, will become a minority shareholder in BuzzFeed as a result of the all-stock transaction. Under the deal, Verizon Media and…

CNN said on Wednesday that it was closing Great Big Story, a venture that was seen as a way to draw in younger viewers. “Challenging times call for difficult decisions, and it is with a heavy heart that we are announcing today that will be closing the doors of Great Big Story,” read an announcement posted to its…

Buzzfeed is making an expanded push into television, signing a first-look deal with Universal TV, in which the studio will produce scripted content based on stories and original reporting published by the tech-powered media company. The two entities have set their first project under the pact, with Jenna Bans…

EXCLUSIVE: Lionsgate and BuzzFeed are partnering on a new venture to develop, produce and distribute a multi-picture slate of socially relevant and high-concept feature films for global millennial and Gen Z audiences. As part of the partnership, Lionsgate will greenlight full-length feature films to be produced with…

Ben Smith is departing as BuzzFeed‘s editor-in-chief for The New York Times, where he will serve as media columnist. Smith helped build the editorial side of BuzzFeed since he joined the media platform from Politico, and the site has become a significant source of political coverage and investigative journalism…