Turner Broadcasting is taking a minority stake in Funny or Die, the producer of online comedy videos that was founded by Will Ferrell, Adam McKay and Chris Henchy.
The investment will link up Funny or Die with two Turner brands on television: TBS, which is known for sitcoms, and Adult Swim, which shares channel space with the Cartoon Network and is known for irreverent cartoons, comedies and shorts. The amount of the investment was not disclosed.
Effectively giving Funny or Die some old-media muscle, the company will collaborate with TBS and Adult Swim both on content and on advertising sales. The digital ad sales staff of Turner will become “the exclusive seller of advertising opportunities with Funny or Die,” the companies said in a joint news release.
The arrangement was announced Wednesday morning at the upfront for Turner, which is a television unit of Time Warner. It comes on the heels of other recent pairings of traditional TV and Web companies, like the acquisition of Revision3 by Discovery Communications this month.
The arrangement with Funny or Die “will prove to be very attractive to advertisers looking to associate their brands with great content and an engaged, socially savvy audience,” David Levy, the president of sales, distribution and sports at Turner, said in a statement.
Funny or Die has been online for five years. Earlier, it received an investment from HBO, another unit of Time Warner. That deal is unaffected by the Turner investment, a spokeswoman said.
Separately, Funny or Die will also start to create short content for NCM Media Networks, a company that places programming and ads on movie-theater screens. NCM will work with Funny or Die and advertisers to create what it called “customized, entertaining integrated comedy content.”