NBCUniversal's $200 Million Investment In BuzzFeed Will Lead To Collaboration On Olympics

Confirming weeks of rumors, BuzzFeed announced Tuesday morning that NBCUniversal has invested $200 million in the media company known for its listicles. This announcement comes a little over a week after NBCUniversal made a similar investment in Vox Media.

According to the press release, NBCUniversal and BuzzFeed are exploring "strategic partnerships across both organizations." NBCUniversal is owned by Comcast, which means this new corporate relationship could lead to BuzzFeed expanding into movies and television. Kenneth Lerer, the privately held BuzzFeed's executive chairman, says part of the deal includes working together on the Olympics.

“It’s a fascinating time for the media industry; social, mobile, digital and broadcast platforms are converging to create new opportunities to connect with global audiences," said Jonah Peretti, BuzzFeed’s founder and CEO.

Pairing up with BuzzFeed will allow NBCUniversal to reach younger audiences, a demographic it has been struggling to capture in recent years. According to the press release, BuzzFeed has more than 200 million monthly unique visitors and 1.5 billion monthly video views, the latter of which makes it particularly attractive to the Comcast-owned company. NBCUniversal also invested $200 million into Vox Media, which would also allow it to court this desired audience.

"BuzzFeed has built an exceptional global company that harmonizes technology, data and superior editorial abilities to create and share content in innovative ways,” NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke said in BuzzFeed's press release announcing the deal. “They reach a massive, loyal audience and have proven to be among the most creative, popular and influential new media players. We are pleased to be making this investment and for our companies to partner and work together.”