Viacom acquires Quizilla.com

Cory Bergman October 16th, 2006

Viacom’s MTV Networks is buying the teen social networking and user generated site Quizilla.com for an undisclosed amount. “The acquisition of Quizilla combined with The-N.com and NeoPets will further deepen our already strong connection with our audience,” said Cyma Zarghami, President, Nickelodeon and MTVN Kids and Family Group. Teens on Quizilla upload and share stories, poetry, quizzes and other original content. The site is a top five destination for female teens. Press release…

PRESS RELEASE — MTV Networks (MTVN) today announced that is has
acquired Quizilla.com, an online, user-generated community of original teen
authors (14 years and up) who create and share quizzes, fiction,
non-fiction, poetry, polls, and other creative content. The website was
acquired from Gorilla Nation Media, LLC, on behalf of the Nickelodeon/MTVN
Kids and Family Group.

Quizilla is a top-five online destination for female teens and will
join the MTVN Kids and Family digital portfolio that includes popular teen
sites The-N.com and NeoPets.com. Quizilla.com drew 3.1 million unique
visitors globally during September, 2006, according to comScore Media
Metrix. By combining Quizilla and the The-N.com’s The Click embedded video
player, the Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Group will provide its teen
female audience with a 360 degree, multi-platform entertainment experience
and an unprecedented platform for creating and sharing creative content
with their peers.

“Quizilla.com is a terrific destination and another interactive and
creative online environment that we’re adding to MTV Networks’ portfolio of
targeted digital brands,” said Judy McGrath, Chairman and CEO, MTV
Networks. “This marks another great step forward with our strategy of
continuing to transform MTVN into a global, multi-platform entertainment
company that engages our diverse audiences wherever, whenever and however
they want.”

Quizilla.com joins the community of sites within the Nickelodeon/MTVN
Kids and Family Group that serve preschoolers, kids, teens and parents. In
August, Shockwave.com and AddictingGames.com were acquired, adding two of
the internet’s largest casual gaming sites to NeoPets and Nick.com to
provide kids, tweens and families with a diverse mix of gaming experiences.
In September, ParentsConnect.com launched in public beta to become the
first parent targeted community site launched by Nickelodeon. Most
recently, Nickelodeon launched TurboNick 2.0 to provide kids with
unprecedented broadband video features and has since averaged 19 million
streams per week.

“The acquisition of Quizilla combined with The-N.com and NeoPets will
further deepen our already strong connection with our audience and provide
them with new ways to experience our content on The N as well as the
ability to create and share their own creative ideas and passions through
Quizilla,” said Cyma Zarghami, President, Nickelodeon and MTVN Kids and
Family Group. This is a great complement to our portfolio of brands that
super serve preschoolers, kids, teens, parents and families overall.”

Added Brian Fitzgerald, President, Gorilla Nation Media, LLC, “This is
a perfect example of property value in the mid-tail section of the web,
where our company is focused. If you know where to find it, how to grow and
harvest it, then you can reap what you sow. This is the first of many
successful ventures emerging from our growing owned and operated division.”

Gorilla Nation is the world’s largest online ad sales representation
company. The company represents over 400 leading web publishers and sells
high impact advertising programs to Fortune 500 brand advertisers and their
agencies. GN’s O&O division cultivates high potential properties through
both creative content development and strategic marketing efforts. Founded
in 2002, Quizilla originally launched as a site that helped users create,
maintain and share only quizzes. As user-generated content became more
popular, it evolved into a creative community for exchanging a wider
variety of self-published works, including original fiction and nonfiction,
poems, and journals. Quizilla users today can create an original work,
share it with friends, post on social networking sites such as MySpace, and
view feedback from other readers. Users can also post photo albums, play
games, and read horoscopes.

Gorilla Nation Media was represented by The Jordan, Edmiston Group,
Inc., a New York City based investment bank that specializes in the media
and information industries.