NBC to Acquire iVillage

David Card | March 06, 2006, 07:51 AM

The list of standalone, Internet pure-play media companies is getting smaller. By my reckoning, the ones with valuable, targetable audiences is down to CNET and PlanetOut. I won't make the Google and Yahoo joke again.

NBC Universal agreed to acquire women's destination site iVillage Inc. for about $600 million, the latest in a string of deals by traditional media companies looking for more online-ad growth.

I've always liked iVillage, and some GE management discipline usually doesn't hurt anybody. But NBC Universal's media portfolio doesn't seem the most obvious match. Is this a cable TV play? Or a tie-in to the Today Show? (That'd be cool.) Is Hearst still involved?