There's money in viral videos, and News Corp wants a piece.
The media giant announced on Friday that it had acquired Storyful, a media startup that finds and verifies content posted to social media. Billing itself as "the world's first social news agency," Storyful launched in 2010 and is based in Dublin, Ireland. The company was founded by Mark Little, an Irish television journalist and author.
See also: YouTube's 10 Most-Viewed Ads of 2013
Events such as the Arab Spring and more recent unrest in the Ukraine have flooded social media with video and pictures. News agencies rushed to incorporate this content into coverage, while scrambling to ensure it was legitimate. The $25 million deal will provide News Corp with a dedicated unit that combs sites like YouTube for to-the-minute content from primary sources with high value potential for news outlets.
However, journalism is just the start. Storyful also includes a licensing management platform that negotiates the rights to popular videos. With marketers increasingly turning to viral videos to make a connection with consumers, the rights to the next "David Goes to the Dentist" represents a lucrative opportunity , said Raju Narisetti, deputy head of strategy for News Corp.
"One of Storyful's key strengths is in managing the rights of potential viral videos," Narisetti said. "We think that user-generated video is just starting to take off. It's an opportunity for us to leverage that not just for news coverage around the world, but for marketers looking for user generated content."
"We see a significant opportunity to work with brands and advertising agencies in helping brands tell stories and bringing social media into that storytelling," he added.
Storyful will continue as a standalone business, a decision Narisetti said reflects the desire to maintain the startup's relationships other media companies including the New York Times, BBC, Reuters and various international outlets.
The acquisition is the first by News Corp since the company split into two parts, with one retaining the News Corp name and the other going by 21st Century Fox. News Corp remains primarily as a newspaper media business, while 21st Century Fox runs the movie studio 20th Century Fox as well as the Fox broadcast networks and Fox News.
Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.
Image: Chris Hondros/Getty Images