Bravo buys TelevisionWithoutPity.com
Mia Walsh Bravo has made its first media acquisition, buying the rights to Television Without Pity, a Web site that offers caustic and often witty recaps of dozens of network and cable series, including Lost, The Sopranos and Battlestar Galactica.
The site, which was founded in 1999 by Sarah Bunting and Tara Ariano as a vehicle through which to explore the arcana of the teen drama Dawson’s Creek, also features a robust community site.
While TWoP’s registered members use the forums to snarkily obsess over their favorite TV shows, high-profile writers, showrunners and producers are said to visit the boards to gauge how plot twists and character developments are being received by actual viewers.
Some TV execs take their lurking a step further. Aaron Sorkin has posted in the forums, and his conversations with TWoP members is said to have inspired an episode of The West Wing.
While the site’s URL will remain the same (TelevisionWithoutPity.com), TWoP will link to the triad of Trio-branded channels, BrilliantButCancelled.com, OUTzoneTV.com and getTRIO.com. As part of the deal, Bravo has also bought Bunting and Ariano’s Fametracker.com.
Financials were not disclosed. Bunting and Ariano will remain on-board as editors, and will continue to oversee all TWoP content.
TWoP racks up approximately 30 million page views a month, according to comScore MediaMetrix and Internal Web Analytics Tracking. By adding the site to its digital arsenal, Bravo elevates its number of unique visitors by more than 27%.
“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,” said Bravo president Lauren Zalaznick.
