Comcast Picks Up DailyCandy

NEW YORK — Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA), the largest U.S. cable operator, said on Tuesday it is buying DailyCandy, a women’s fashion and lifestyle e-mail newsletter for an undisclosed amount.

Comcast paid around $125 million for the closely held New York-based company, according to people familiar with the talks. DailyCandy employs 55 people and sends out daily e-mails to readers in 12 U.S. cities and London, England.

Comcast said DailyCandy, which started in 2000, runs a successful premium ad-supported e-mail business and has kept a loyal base of fashion-conscious women in their 20s to 40s. It said this has attracted major advertisers like American Express, Target and Procter & Gamble.

The DailyCandy service, and its 2.5 million-strong subscriber base and team, will be integrated into Comcast’s web unit Comcast Interactive Media (CIM).

Comcast and DailyCandy already have an editorial relationship through two of Comcast’s cable TV channels, the E! and Style networks, with editors and writers of the newsletter featuring on the networks’ TV shows.

Executives said that they see local advertising and cross-platform content opportunities on other Comcast Web properties including its Web portal Comcast.net and other TV shows.

CIM has been active in making acquisitions and developing new Web sites in the last two years as the company diversifies in the changing media landscape.

In May, CIM bought Plaxo the social address book website while last year it bought Fandango, a movie fan website. It has also been developing Fancast, an online video website with hours of free TV programs similar to Hulu, a video site jointly owned by News Corp and NBC Universal, which is 80 percent owned by General Electric and 20 percent by Vivendi.

CIM is also setting up an in-house sales team to focus on selling graphic and in-video advertisements for its entertainment sites including Fandango and Fancast.