Discovery Communications has announced that it has agreed to acquire HowStuffWorks, the online source of easy-to-understand explanations of how the world actually works. HowStuffWorks claims 11 million global monthly unique visitors. The site has exclusive digital rights to over 30,000 books, 800,000 images and more than 180,000 maps.
David Zaslav, president and CEO, Discovery Communications, said in a prepared statement: “One of my early challenges at Discovery was determining how best to build a robust digital media portfolio. With HowStuffWorks, 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.”
As part of the HowStuffWorks transaction, Discovery Communications will acquire a portfolio of other digital properties that complement the Discovery brands, including expert ratings and reviews from ConsumerGuide.com, an extensive database of digitized maps owned by GeoNova Group (formerly MapQuest Publishing), and QuickCompliance, a medical education business that complements Discovery’s existing health businesses.
