Flipboard has announced that it has acquired news reading app Zite from CNN. As a part of this partnership, Flipboard will syndicate CNN’s content into its news service. The acquisition amount is said to be $60 million, although CNN paid about $25 million when it acquired Zite in 2011. Flipboard says that it will stop updating Zite, but will add some of its capabilities to Flipboard like magazines and content from CNN sources like Fareed Zakaria. “Flipboard has proven to be one of the biggest drivers of traffic so syndicating out content into Flipboard will see us creating custom magazines for our shows and talent,” CNN’s head of digital KC Estenson says. Flipboard has also announced that it would soon debut new full-page brand ads to its users built around CNN content.
Flipboard generates 2.5 billion page views per month and adds 250,000 new users every day. “While the Zite and Flipboard teams integrate and dive into this work together, Zite users should know that they can continue to use the existing Zite app and will soon be able to enjoy a great Zite experience on Flipboard,” says Flipboard CEO Mike McCue.
SOURCE: CNNMoney, Inside Flipboard (1), (2)
