Popular comedy sites are putting themselves on the market left and right. Well, really just two – but they’re two important properties.
Fresh off the news that Will Ferrell’s Funny or Die has hired a financial advisor to evaluate their options, it looks like The Onion has done the same.
According to a report from Bloomberg, Onion Inc. (which owns The Onion and the popular A.V. Club) is now working with investment bank GCA Savvian, looking at a potential sale. No speculated price is attached to the report.
The Onion was founded in 1988 by two University of Wisconsin-Madison juniors – Tim Keck and Christopher Johnson. According to Keck, the satirical paper got its name when his uncle suggested he name it that after seeing him eating an onion sandwich. The Onion published a print edition for 25 years, ending its run in 2013. As of today it’s an online-only venture – but one that nets a significant amount of traffic. Thanks to name recognition and a strong social media presence, The Onion‘s website receives about six million unique visitors every month.
The two most prominent wings of Onion Inc, apart from The Onion’s main site and the entertainment destination A.V Club, are its Onion News Network (YouTube videos) and the newly-launched Clickhole – which parodies clickbait sites like BuzzFeed and Upworthy.