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MTV NETA BUYS QUIZILLA.COM

Viacom's MTV Networks has acquired the teen-centric online community Quizilla.com from the Los Angeles Calif-based Gorilla Nation Media for an undisclosed amount.

The site's operations will be managed jointly by Nickelodeon and the MTVN Kids and Family Group.

Quizilla.com is a registration-based Web site where mostly teenaged girls create and share content consisting of quizzes, puzzles, stories and poems. According to comScore Media Metrix, the site reached 4.7 million unique visitors globally in September.

Many advertisers user the site to produced sponsored-quizzes meant to generate buzz or even to conduct market research. For example, earlier this year when Sony Pictures was promoting the horror film When a Stranger Calls, the company created original quizzes on Quizilla asking teens how they dealt with scary and tense situations.

MTV says it plans to leverage synergies between Quizilla's audience and both Neopets, its kids-aimed virtual pet universe, and TheN.com, the Web offshoot of the teen-aimed cable network. “The acquisition of Quizilla combined with The N.com and NeoPets will further deepen our already strong connection with our audience and provide them with new ways to experience our content on The N, as well as the ability to create and share their own creative ideas and passions through Quizilla,” said Cyma Zarghami, president, Nickelodeon and MTVN Kids and Family Group.

The transaction between Gorilla Nation and MTV was handled by the New York-based investment banking firm The Jordan, Edmiston Group, Inc.

By Mike Shields Mailed 2007-01-16

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