Achieving household name status is no longer a sure bet for future security - as employees of DailyCandy and Television Without Pity (TWoP) could tell you. Though the two content properties have long been go-to sites in NBCUniversal's online stable, the media group today announced the shuttering of both, with the curtains set to fall on April 4.
At 14 years old, DailyCandy is a veteran of the web scene, and along with TWoP shaped the early Web 1.0 landscape. TWoP was bought by NBCU's Bravo unit in 2007, with DailyCandy following suit in 2008 - the later purchased fro $125 million. Ostensibly a local recommendations site, DailyCandy quickly became a trusted name in contemporary women's content, with emphasis on entertainment, home, fashion and beauty. TWoP's first incarnation was as a Dawson's Creek review site called Dawson's Wrap, followed by a stint as Mighty Big TV before cementing its identity as TWoP. The site's idiosyncratic language, irreverent recaps and highly detailed reviews garnered it a devoted following; though, according to NBCU's latest stats, perhaps that following was still a little too small for the media giant to justify. NBCU cited a "difficulty monetizing the properties, especially in the wake of increased competition since the pair were first founded" as the reason for the closure of both sites.
NBCU reportedly shopped the sites around, but did not find any interested buyers. The news will likely have all manner of sites - even the big names - quaking in their boots and not resting on their laurels, with cultish dedication and high-quality content apparently not enough to keep the faith of the higher-ups.
It's thought that the 67 (64 DailyCandy staffers; three TWoP) employees losing their jobs will be re-homed into other NBCU units, though no guarantees have made as yet. The content from both sites will be preserved, though not available for public viewing. NBCU has offered a paltry lifeline to diehard television fans: TWoP's user forums, a key part of the site's identity and traffic, will remain open until May 31, nearly two full months after the main site's shutdown.
