TV Guide Digital has been operating as a joint venture between CBS and Lionsgate. Not only do 16 million users visit the website every month to check out what’s on the boob tube tonight, but they also read the Android and iOS apps. CBS has announced that it has purchased the 50% equity stake that Lionsgate owned, and now is in complete control of the entire digital property.
“TV Guide is one of the most-enduring and iconic brands in the world of television and video, and we’re proud to welcome TV Guide Digital to the CBS Interactive family,” said Jim Lanzone, President of CBS Interactive. “TVGuide.com and TV Guide Mobile have the biggest and most-engaged audiences in the valuable TV information category, making them a perfect fit for our portfolio of premium content brands.”
CBS interactive is a juggernaut when it comes to strategically purchasing significant digital properties. It currently owns CNET, GameSpot, TV.com, Last.fm, and Metacritic. All of these companies represent some of the most visited sites on the entire internet. The addition of the TV Guide into its portfolio will make the broadcasting company a digital force to be reckoned with, with the vast majority of them being reading related.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.