In its first media acquisition, cable network Bravo has scooped up the rights to televisionwithoutpity.com, a high-traffic go-to Web site for detailed TV show recaps, as well as Fametracker.com, a smaller site owned by TWOP's founders.
Television Without Pity features witty, opinionated recaps of a variety of network and cable series, including 24, Grey's Anatomy, and House, in addition to hosting extensive community forums. TWOP was founded in 1999 by Sarah Bunting and Tara Ariano as a vehicle for exploring the weekly shenanigans of the teens of Dawson's Creek.
Bravo said TWOP attracts 1 million unique visitors each month, each of whom spends about 13 minutes on the site each time they visit. Overall page views are roughly 30 million, per MediaMetrix.
According to Variety, Bravo president Lauren Zalaznick stated of the purchase, "Television Without Pity is an online brand destination for the impassioned and opinionated television viewer, which mirrors the exact attributes of Bravo's core audience. This will broaden the scope of our sites to create a community where smart people with something to say about their favorite shows--past and present--can get together under the umbrella of Bravo's pop sensibility."
Bravo also owns the sites getTrio.com, BrilliantButCancelled.com, OUTzoneTV.com, and BravoTV.com. As part of the deal, Bunting and Ariano will retain editorial control of the site, which will keep its current URL.
It may seem questionable that a television network would purchase a site that reviews television shows, but according to a TWOP announcement, for them the acquisition signals a mutually beneficial union: "Partnering with Bravo will give us the opportunity to expand our coverage, in all directions. We can cover more shows, and we can cover shows (and TV in general) in different ways--trend stories, blogs, exclusive interviews, audio and video content...You can also look forward to podcasts, episode extras, and all sorts of other neat stuff."
This will make the site even more biased.
Someone probably will start a simmilar independent site from scratch again (and if they won't than they should).
TWoP is known for denying people the right to express their own opinions, banning anyone who dares to disagree with the recappers, who are chosen through nepotism. I'm disgusted by this constant praise and privilege given to people who are now, by this deal, part of the industry they claim to be criticizing.
TWoP is a fantastic site, and whatever pile of money Ariano and Bunting got for it, they deserve. They've built a stable of really witty recappers.
TWoP rocks, when I read the headline I was like 'Oh no, it's going down' but now I feel better. I say bring on the podcasts and all the other yummy extras.
I'll stay right here at TV.com thank you very much.
never looked at it
I agree
TWoP sucks.