MTVN is making another acquisition, picking up RateMyProfessors.com, a site that allows college students to rate their professors to help others plan their class schedules. RateMyProfessors.com has rankings on 900,000 profs, and it pulled in 10 million uniques last year. “This acquisition reflects MTV’s strategy of being everywhere our audience is and harnessing its creative firepower,” said Christina Norman, President, MTV. The site will be integrated with MTVu, and it’s the latest in a string of recent MTVN acquisitions: Y2M, Atom Entertainment, GameTrailers, Harmonix, IFILM, Neopets and Xfire. The selling price was not disclosed. Press release…
PRESS RELEASE — MTV’s 24-hour college network and a division of Viacom Inc.’s
MTV Networks, today announced a definitive agreement to acquire
RateMyProfessors.com, a rapidly growing online destination with more than 6.6
million user-generated ratings of over 900,000 college professors. The Internet’s
largest listing of collegiate professor ratings, the site reaches approximately 10
million total college students each year, who use the free service to plan their
class schedule, and rate professors on attributes such as helpfulness and
clarity. With the combination of RateMyProfessors.com, mtvU.com, and the
recently acquired College Publisher network of over 500 online college
newspapers, mtvU now claims the second most trafficked* set of general
interest college-focused websites – further solidifying its position as the
largest multi-platform college network.
RateMyProfessors.com is a strong addition to the MTVN family of online
brands, as the company continues to super-serve audiences with relevant and
innovative content via engaging new platforms. Following MTVN’s recent
purchases of Y2M, Atom Entertainment, GameTrailers, Harmonix, IFILM,
Neopets and Xfire, this acquisition demonstrates the company’s continued
commitment to being a premier multi-platform media company across every
screen consumers use.
“This deal marks another step forward in our overall digital strategy
and brings a large, active and engaged community of college students to our
growing online portfolio,” said Judy McGrath, Chairman and CEO, MTVN. “With
sound acquisitions and organic growth, we’re constantly offering our
audiences new ways to interact and express themselves, strengthening and
deepening our connection with them in the process.”
“This acquisition reflects MTV’s strategy of being everywhere our
audience is and harnessing its creative firepower – in this case the
millions of ratings generated by students on RateMyProfessors.com,” said
Christina Norman, President, MTV. “This site is a perfect addition to
mtvU’s multi-platform offering, further establishing the network as the
definitive way to connect with college students on-air, online and on
campus.”
“Choosing the best courses and professors is a rite of passage for
every college student, and connecting with peers on RateMyProfessors.com
has become a key way millions of students now navigate this process,” said
Stephen Friedman, GM, mtvU. “We look forward to partnering with the site’s
great staff and users, and expanding into new areas that will help students
get much more from their college experience.”
“Of all the parties that approached us, mtvU was the most tapped into
college culture and by far the best fit,” said Will DeSantis, President,
and Patrick Nagle, CEO, RateMyProfessors.com. “mtvU has the team, know-how
and resources to take RateMyProfessors.com to the next level, and we’re
thrilled to join with the network to continue offering our users new tools
to plan their academic careers.”
The agreement with RateMyProfessors.com follows mtvU’s August 2006
acquisition of Y2M: Youth Media & Marketing Networks, the parent of College
Publisher – the largest interactive network of online college newspapers in
the U.S. Since being acquired, the network has shown double-digit growth,
expanding to over 500 online college newspapers nationwide, which serve
institutions with a combined enrollment of over 5.5 million students. As a
whole, mtvU has grown rapidly since launching in January 2004, increasing
distribution by more than 40 percent, quintupling the size of its
advertiser base, becoming the first MTV Networks channel distributed in its
entirety on broadband (mtvU.com), and increasing its number of on-campus
events to more than 500 a year.
The RateMyProfessors.com transaction is expected to close during the
first quarter of 2007.
* comScore Media Metrix, October 2006, purely college-focused and
branded websites