Fox Adds User-generated Content Sites
Two minor acquisitions add community tools to Fox Interactive's growing network.
Fox Interactive Media (FIM) has added two small user-generated media tools to its network through the acquisition of Newroo and kSolo.com. The company didn’t disclose terms of the deals.
The kSolo.com “Web-based karaoke” service lets users sing their favorite songs, record their performances and send them to friends or post as a Webcast for the community to judge. Newroo allows site owners to add vertical news feeds to their sites using its RSS aggregation software.
Both acquisitions add to the network’s user-generated content capabilities, which Ross Levinsohn, president of Fox Interactive Media, has identified as a priority for the company’s plan to boost Web traffic to monetize with advertising.
The Newroo and kSolo.com tools will be integrated across FIM’s network, including its flagship MySpace.com, which Fox acquired last July. In addition, kSolo would likely be a good fit for Fox’s AmericanIdol.com franchise, while Newroo would seem to fit well with its Foxsports.com and Scout.com sports news properties. Other FIM properties include gaming site IGN, men’s lifestyle site AskMen, and movie review site Rotten Tomatoes.
Fox is following a similar integration strategy with content from FIN’s other recent acquisitions, such as IGN.
