New York Media, the publisher New York Magazine, Vulture, and the Cut, has acquired comedy-news site Splitsider from the Awl Network.
Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. New York Media will merge Splitsider, which launched in 2010, into Vulture.com as part of a new comedy section expected to debut in May.
“Splitsider is a treasured, must-read site among comedians and comedy fans,” said New York Media CEO Pam Wasserstein, who joined the company two years ago. “I’m thrilled to have it join Vulture, where the combination will create the leading source for all things comedy.”
The sale of Splitsider by Awl Network, founded by Alex Balk and Choire Sicha, comes after the company in January shut down flagship site The Awl and sister site The Hairpin. Its sole remaining property is The Billfold, a millennial-targeted finance site, which is soliciting contributions from readers on Patreon to stay in business.
Vulture’s rollout of a new Splitsider-seeded comedy section is timed to coincide with the 2018 Vulture Festival in New York City May 20-21. Until the new comedy section is live, Splitsider will continue to operate as usual as Vulture migrates over its full content archive (which will remain accessible during the transition).
Splitsider founder Adam Frucci commented, “I’m confident that with [New York Media’s] vision and resources [Splitsider] will be cemented as a beautiful comedic oasis in the desiccated husk of the internet Mark Zuckerberg has left us all with.”
New York Media is owned by the Wasserstein family trust. The late Bruce Wasserstein, father of Pamela, bought New York Magazine in 2004 for $55 million from Primedia.
