NBCU To Close Daily Candy, Television Without Pity

Fashion/lifestyle site Daily Candy and the entertainment-oriented Television Without Pity (TWoP) will close next week. NBCU had been shopping around both properties for at least six months, without any real interest. The company had paid $125 million in cash for Daily Candy in 2008. The site was previously owned by Bob Pittman's company Pilot, which paid $3 million for it in 2003.

NBCU cable channel Bravo acquired TWoP in 2008 for an undisclosed price.

The decision was announced to the staff of both properties Thursday morning, according to Re/Code, which first broke the story.

According to sources at NBCU, the decision was based on both web site's inability to grow their audience enough to compete with an explosion of rival online destinations. As an example, traffic measurement service Quantcast lists TelevisionWithoutPity.com as averaging around 400,000 unique global visitors a month.

The problem with Daily Candy was a bit more complex. It has a much larger staff than TWoP (65 vs 3) and generates a great percentage of its traffic (and revenue) through 13 daily email editions. But according to an executive familiar with web site's operations, Daily Candy had struggled to find an editorial focus in a fashion-lifestyle niche that is hyper-competitive. Despite the hiring of former HBO digital executive Alison Moore in late 2012, the site struggled to grow enough to please advertisers at the same time that engagement rates for its email products slipped.

Moore is expected to remain at NBCU in some as yet announced capacity and an unknown number of the Daily Candy employees will be offered jobs at other NBCU digital properties.

And while the main web site for both properties will close next week, the TWoP forums will stay online until May 31.