Business News
Observer Media Group and IAC Announce Joint Venture
Monday 15. June 2009 - IAC Contributes Cultural Email, Very Short List to Create Joint Venture; Observer Media to Maintain Majority Stake
IAC (NASDAQ:IACI) and the Observer Media Group today announced that IAC has contributed the assets of Very Short List (VSL) to a joint venture with Observer Media Group. Observer Media Group will acquire majority control of the venture and IAC will maintain a non-controlling stake. Additional terms have not been disclosed.
VSL is a free daily email that provides subscribers a recommendation of one must-see, cultural item a day. VSL (VeryShortList.com) was originally created by author Kurt Andersen, IAC Senior Advisor Michael Jackson and design studio Number 17, in conjunction with IAC. Last month VSL won the prestigious Webby Award for “Best Guides, Ratings and Review Website.” The email newsletter will be renamed The Observer’s Very Short List and the founders will continue to remain involved under the new joint venture.
“VSL has always offered incredibly dynamic content,” said Jared Kushner, owner and publisher of The New York Observer. “The Observer’s Very Short List is another example of how the Observer Media Group offers its readers the most cutting-edge information, available in a variety of platforms and written by an editorial staff known for its distinctive and discerning style and wit. With VSL, Politicker, NYFi, our Webby-nominated website, observer.com and the strength of our weekly newspaper, Observer Media Group is emblematic of journalism today — a bridge spanning traditional and future media.”
The Observer’s Very Short List will point to excellent, new — and sometimes vintage — undiscovered entertainment and media each weekday and will continue to offer one cultural recommendation a day — a single gem from the vast mass of films, TV shows, books, websites, music, and more. The focus is on products that deserve attention but haven’t already been subject to huge media promotion. The New York Observer’s award-winning editorial staff will report and edit the newsletter, overseen by the new acting editor, Tom McGeveran.
“We are proud of the work we’ve done shaping VSL, which now has 200,000 subscribers,” said Michael Jackson, Senior Advisor at IAC. “It will be exciting to watch it continue to grow in collaboration with Observer Media Group.”