Movie review site Fandango was snapped up today by cable company Comcast with the ultimate goal for Comcast being increased web traffic and support for a new site Fancast.com devoted to allowing consumers to watch on demand content on a variety of devices.
Comcast is the nation’s largest cable company and Fandango is one of the largest movie sites around. There is a natural synergy between Fandango’s base of movie enthusiasts and Comcast’s goals to allow users to watch on demand content across a variety of devices.
The question worth asking is what other acquisition ideas have been created as a result of this one. Will other cable companies, AT&T and Verizon be looking for movie content sites as well? Does everyone who distributes content now need a TV Guide like audience to market to?
Fandango has a community of interest and Comcast will now be able to tap into this community to sell things – beyond its geographic boundary if it so chooses.
It seems companies are waking up to the concept of online communities and their inherent value. Moreover, cable companies are now looking beyond their own territories for customers… Will this upset the other cablecos?
Lately, with all the talk of social networking communities many may have forgotten how many community sites already exist on the internet and could add value to service providers looking to build larger audiences of perspective customers.
This acquisition makes sense but one wonders why it didn’t happen sooner. More importantly is the possibility this acquisition could cause countless others over the coming months and years and result in a wave of entertainment wars.
See also:
Houston Chronicle: Comcast Buying Fandango
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