BuzzFeed to split into two entities: news and entertainment
BuzzFeed is to be split into two entities: BuzzFeed News and BuzzFeed Entertainment, believing its potential to become a global leader in both of sectors is greater if the platforms are separated. The Financial Times reportedly noted that BuzzFeed missed its revenue targets last year, and cited that certain observers thought the move could potentially be a precursor to selling off the news unit. 

Digital media company BuzzFeed is splitting into two distinct units — news and entertainment — in similar fashion to the move made a couple of years ago by old media organisation News Corp.

BuzzFeed’s founder and chief executive, Jonah Peretti, sent staff a memo saying that “having a single ‘video department’ in 2016 makes about as much sense as having a ‘mobile department.’”

The reorganisation will see the creation of a new entity, BuzzFeed Entertainment, led by BuzzFeed Motion Pictures president Ze Frank.

It will serve as an umbrella for all its entertainment content, while BuzzFeed News will continue under the leadership of co-founder Ben Smith.

Peretti’s memo stated: “We have an opportunity to be the leading entertainment company for the mobile, social age.

“And we are in position to build the #1 global news brand for a new generation who consume news differently than their parents, but care passionately about what is happening in a quickly-changing world. “



The news comes amid reports that BuzzFeed, which is now 10 years old, missed revenue targets in 2015 (reported by Vanity Fair and also by the Financial Times).

In Vanity Fair’s article on the decision, Peretti was asked if he thought the organisational split could lead to BuzzFeed News eventually spinning off.

He answered by pointing to Ted Turner’s CNN model, arguing that “he built a news and entertainment empire side by side.”

But the Financial Times noted that “observers” believe the division “might pave the way for BuzzFeed to eventually spin off or sell its news unit.”

It quoted Ken Doctor of Newsonomics as saying: “BuzzFeed has been a kind of unusual hybrid. A sale could make a lot of financial sense. News is a cost centre and entertainment is a profit centre.”

Aside from Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, other old media organisations that have split into separate news and entertainment divisions include Tribune and Gannett.