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Discovery Communications owns well-known brands such as the Discovery Channel and Animal Planet.  For the price of $250 million, it now owns HowStuffWorks.com, too.

Discovery Forks Over $250M For HowStuffWorks

The entities are obviously a good match in terms of subject matter; they’re similar enough, in fact, that a “How Stuff Works” television show is in development, and should air in 2008.  Also, Discovery plans to make many of its videos available through the site.  Everyone stands to benefit.

Yet the biggest impact may be felt in future online moves.  “Discovery now has a solid platform for strengthening our digital businesses, leveraging our video assets to create new experiences for users, advertisers and our distribution partners, and taking those opportunities around the globe,” announced David Zaslav, the president and CEO of Discovery Communications.

No specifics were forthcoming, but it sounds as if HowStuffWorks.com will become a sort of flagship site; $250 million certainly isn’t an amount one would spend on a random portfolio-filler.  (Credit goes to Matthew Karnitschnig for reporting that price, by the way.)

HowStuffWorks claims to get around 11 million unique visitors per month, and has stated that its Atlanta headquarters and 160-person workforce will be largely unaffected by the acquisition.