Mergers and acquisitions are normal occurrences in the business industry. The television industry is no exception.
DreamWorks Animation is the latest to acquire a teen network popular for its online content for a whopping $33 million. The acquisition deal is expected to be finalized within this month.
DreamWorks is buying AwesomenessTV, a YouTube teen network and the deal will involve additional payments worth $117 million on condition that certain earnings goals are met by 2014 and 2015.
AwesomenessTV airs talk shows and programs that are both scripted and unscripted (reality). It also features sketch comedy and a television show in Nickelodeon is in the works.
Currently, the network has 14.4 million subscribers and more than 57,000 channels on YouTube. And its more than 1 million videos have already been viewed 809 million times.
DreamWorks CEO Jeffery Katzenberg and AwesomenessTV CEO Brian Robbins are reported to be collaborating in certain projects aimed at a win-win situation for both of their networks. Analysts, on the other hand, are seeing the move of DreamWorks as recognizing the fact that their younger audience are tech-savvy people who often stream videos online, on mobile devices as well as in social media sites.
In a move to better serve its young audience, DreamWorks has also partnered with LaunchPad Toys to provide the new iOS app called Toontastic Jr. Shrek. The app features Shrek in educational games that aim to promote a toy experience to kids. Through the app, they can create an imaginary world with their own characters, stories, voice recording and sound effects.
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