Headline September 17, 2016/ ''' BUZZFEED ... -!WOW!- ...BUSINESS '''

''' BUZZFEED ... -!WOW!- ...BUSINESS '''

FOR YEARS AND YEARS,  BUZZFEED  has been viewed as a digital success story. Its viral content has been the envy of the media industry and its business model-

Built on so-called native  advertising rather than display ads, enticed brands that wanted to reach younger demographics.

It has expanded internationally, with offices in cities including London, Sao Paulo,  Brazil; and Tokyo. Last year the company received a $200 million investment from NBCUniversal.

But BuzzFeed is facing challenges similar to those faced by both traditional and start-up media companies. In July, BuzzFeed drew  72 million unique visitors in the United States, the lowest number since August 2014, according to the measurement firm comScore...........

SO, STAFF MEETINGS AT BuzzFeed are not uncommon. And Jonah H. Periti, the site's founder and chief executive, who is based in Los Angeles-

Travels to the New York office regularly, and often meets with employees to answer questions or outline strategy.

But two recent meetings took on greater import after BuzzFeed told employees two weeks ago that it was formally dividing its news and entertainment divisions. 

The day the reorganization was announced, Ben Smith the editor-in-chief-met with the news staff to reassure them that the company was committed to its new operations. And one recent Wednesday, Mr Paretti told a question-and-answer session and vowed that the company was not planning to sell its news divisions.

Staff members at BuzzFeed said the overhaul provoked curiosity rather than deep anxiety.  Still, Buzzfeed's reorganization seemed a transformation moment for a company staking a big bet on the future of *video and entertainment*.

Already, video represents more than 50%  of BuzzFeeds  total revenue, compared with 15%  at the end of 2014. In the next two years, BuzzFeed expects that video will generate  75%  of its advertising revenue, according to a person briefed on the company's operations.

The move also reflects a broader shift at media companies that are increasingly turning to  *video and entertainment*  news to lure a younger generation and attract online advertising dollars.

In April, the website Mashable made a round of job cuts as it moved away from covering  *world and political news*  and Mic, a site aimed at young audience, hopes to have   60%  of the company focused on video by year's end.

Traditional news organizations like The New York times  and Tronc, formerly called  Tribune Publishing, are investing heavily in video as well.

As video moved from ancillary purpose to a more important source of revenue, the shifts in structure and emphasis are causing major changes and some uncertainty in newsroom. 

''In any company, especially one that's going through rapid scale and that has geographical disbursement- there are disconnects that come up,'' said Ze Frank who until the recent organization was president of  *BuzzFeed Motion Pictures*, the company's video division.   

Under the new structure, Mr. Smith who is based in New York, will lead BuzzFeed news, and Mr Frank, who is based in Los Angeles, will oversee a new division called BuzzFeed Entertainment Group. 

It no longer made sense, Mr Peretti said in a memo to the employees, for BuzzFeed to have a *single video Department*.

Instead, Mr Smith's department will have its own news video team, and Mr Frank's division will oversee non-news video, like Tasty food videos, as well as the lists and quizzes that are BuzzFeed's bread and butter.

*As digital video becomes ubiquitous,* Mr Paretti wrote in the memo announcing the change,  ''every major initiative at BuzzFeed around the world will find an expression as video.

In April then,  The Financial Times reported that  BuzzFeed had missed its revenue target for 2015 and had halved its projection for this year. BuzzFeed has disputed the report, but has not provided its own numbers.

''The numbers we set at the beginning of the year we've been ahead of,'' Mr Peretti said, ''and we're happy with where we are as a business.''

BuzzFeed's decision to separate news and entertainment divisions follows similar moves by media companies like News Corporation  and Tribune Company, raising the question of whether BuzzFeed would de-emphasize or even spin off its news corporation.

''We've seen in legacy organizations the splitting of what might be deemed to be less profitable news and more profitable entertainment divisions,'' said Emily Bell, the director of Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia.

The Honour and Serving of the latest news on *Internet Media Companies* continues. Thank Ya all for reading and sharing forward.

With respectful dedication: Students Merium, Rabo, Haleema, Dee, Malala [Nobel Prize]. Sarah, Saima, Aqsa, Paras, Sorat, Sanyia, Maynah, Amina, Emaan,& Armeen/LUMS,  and Nina. All Pakistan.

Students: Hussain, Ali, Ehsan, Haider, Noman Khalid, Mustafa & Ahsan/LUMS, Zaeem, Hazeem,Ibrahim, Asim, Hamza, Sannan. All Pakistan  

Students: Danyial and Rahym/UK.

Students: Haanyia, Merium/Singapore.

Student  : Vushnu/India.

Students: Shahzaib, Salar, Bilal Malik, Jordan, US.

Student  : Reza Haider/ Canada.

Student  : Abu Bakr Khan/Sweden

Students : Majeed, Omer, Dusyarntini/Malaysia.

Student   : Toby/China.

And all the Students, Professors and Teachers of the world. See Ya all on !WOW!  -the World Students Society and !E-WOW!  -the Ecosystem 2011:

''' Social Honours '''

Good Night and God Bless

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