With 3 percent of Twitter’s servers devoted to Justin Bieber, there is no denying millenials are a power force on the internet. Alloy, the creator of books like Gossip Girl, Vampire Diaries and Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, among others, has honed its formula for churning out youth bestsellers and accompanying spin-offs to perfection.
Tween and teen-oriented page turners were Alloy’s bread and butter, but the company has lost its faith in books; instead turning to the web and television for eyeballs and mindshare. Alloy Digital, a division of Alloy Media + Marketing, says it reaches more than 60 70 million youngsters a month through its network of websites including the websites for the aforementioned series, new-fangled products like this confusing Facebook app, and Teen.com.
Now the company has announced the acquisition of Santa Monica-based Generate, a “full-service studio and talent management company,” a pioneering web TV studio that secured its $8 million series A in 2008, according to Crunchbase. Terms of the buy were not disclosed, but the two companies say they’re forming “the first of its kind, multi-platform, next generation media company.”
Alloy Digital says it reaches more than 43 percent of internet users aged 12 to 34 and is a top 10 video network.
“We are now the leading next generation media company mirroring the best of both old Hollywood and the new digital era: cost-effective development and production, talent management, distribution, ad sales, social media and promotion all under one roof,” Alloy, Inc. CEO Matt Diamond said in a press release.
CLARIFICATION: An Alloy rep writes in to clarify that Alloy Entertainment, the book and TV division, is not behind the deal: “This deal is Alloy Digital, not Alloy Entertainment—AE will continue to operate independently under Alloy, Inc.”
