TV startup Viggle has bought Wetpaint, and entertainment news site and social platform. The deal is valued at $30 million in combined cash and stock, according to VentureBeat.
The purchase comes after Viggle failed to obtain financing to acquire rival TV check-in service GetGlue in 2012. This recent acquisition shows that Viggle thinks its service can be valuable if it can have more audience, the report said.
Viggle uses game mechanics to lure people to check-in to its service while watching TV shows. Users are then rewarded with stuff as incentive. Compared to Viggle's 3.5 million registered users, Viggle has a much larger base of 12 million unique monthly users. Wetpaint mainly attracts people to news articles via Facebook. Through the deal, Viggle now has a chance to tap news readers and encourage them to use its service, the report explained.
In a statement, Viggle said the two companies will continue to have separate operations but will start teaming up in promotional activities, VentureBeat reported.
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