Comcast Gets Sweet on Daily Candy in $125 Million Deal

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Comcast acquired more than a series of fashion and lifestyle e-newsletters when it purchased Daily Candy for $125 million yesterday. It acquired a nationwide stable of dedicated local advertisers, an asset the cable company hopes to put to good use.

Exactly how remains to be seen. Such discussions are still in the very early stages, said a spokeswoman who asked not to be named. But the cable industry by nature operates as a series of regional divisions, creating a demand -- and opportunities -- for local advertisers.

"The local aspect is really attractive to us," said the spokeswoman. "Cable is a local business; entertainment is a local business. From an advertising perspective, nothing has been set. But you can see where crossovers would probably happen."

Comcast will add Daily Candy, which distributes a series of local and national newsletters to 2.5 million mostly female subscribers daily, to its Comcast Interactive Services division, which also includes movie-ticket site Fandango.com and video site Fancast.com. Daily Candy was launched as a New York-centric site in 2000 and now publishes daily newsletters catering to 13 U.S. cities.

Among its various holdings, Fandango may present Comcast's most logical opportunity for crossover with Daily Candy advertisers. Fandango customers are not only asked to enter their zip codes, they indicate where and when they will be attending a particular theater.

"If you're going to your local AMC theater to watch the new Batman movie, you should also check out this new restaurant in the area. That kind of thing," said the spokeswoman.

Daily Candy also presents exciting opportunities for Comcast from a strictly demographic standpoint. "They've got this incredibly loyal following of women who fit very squarely into a demographic that we already speak to here at Comcast," she said. "It's a 20 to 40 age group of highly successful, trend-setting women, and they are early adopters."

As for the advertising on Daily Candy's newsletters, which now consists mostly of banner ads and sponsorships, Comcast may consider adding video or more rich content. All such decisions, however, are still far from being finalized, said the spokeswoman.