News Corp Sells Beliefnet

By Kevin P. Donovan, Christian Post Reporter Monday, June 28, 2010

News Corp has sold multi-faith site Beliefnet.com to an investment firm for an undisclosed amount, according to an announcement this past week.

"We recognized both the tangible assets of Beliefnet – its high-quality content, tremendously loyal community and its well-established brand – as well as the intangibles, in particular, its excellent reputation for providing high quality, diverse inspirational content reflecting a myriad of cultures, religious beliefs and secular philosophies," remarked Steve Halliday, CEO of BN Media, which announced its acquisition of Beliefnet on Friday.

"Beliefnet's mission is very complementary," added Joseph R. Gregory, chairman of BN Media.

According to Gregory, BN Media's long-term vision has been to become a positive influence on the world, supporting nonprofits in their missions and providing uplifting content and programming that "encourages positive thought and action and feeds the soul."

Beliefnet, meanwhile, has for the past decade been helping people find and walk a spiritual path "that instills comfort, hope, clarity, strength and happiness."

"Together, we will be extremely powerful and transformative in the lives of those who log on to our sites," Gregory concluded.

Before their latest acquisition, BN Media had in its fold CrossBridge.com and Affinity4 – an audio-video site for non-profits and charities and an affinity-based marketing company, respectively.

And it was from the existing relationship between Beliefnet and Affinity4 that the latest acquisition came to be.

"This agreement will enable Beliefnet to effectively continue its mission to be the leading provider of inspiration, spirituality and faith-based online content in a multi-faith environment," commented Beth-Ann Eason, general manager and COO of Beliefnet. "We look forward to partnering even more closely with BN Media's online properties to jointly realize an even greater level of success in the online spirituality space."

Founded in 1999, Beliefnet touts itself as the largest multi-faith online community for spirituality and inspiration. The site features blogs and social networking tools, feature articles and videos, quizzes, devotionals, photo galleries and interviews with noted politicians, celebrities and spiritual leaders.

Presently, the site has more than 14 million newsletter subscribers and averages nearly three million unique visitors per month.

Beliefnet is not affiliated with any spiritual organization or movement.