Just this week, it’s been reported that the ubiquitous comedy brands of Funny or Die and The Onion, along with their offshoots of The A.V. Club and Clickhole, have had financial advisors evaluate their worth for a potential sale.
While certainly both Funny or Die and The Onion have had enough success to garner a nice price tag, it’s unclear what exactly will happen if someone does buy out or into either of them.
Perhaps, both companies feel like they can reach further with whatever they want to accomplish being part of a bigger whole or having more capital in general to work with similar to the way Nerdist, Red Hour, and Smart Girls at the Party were acquired by Legendary. However, part, if only a small sliver, of the autonomy that has gotten them to where they are today would surely be sacrificed in a sale.
While nothing is decided and many of the details are still private, where Funny or Die and The Onion have gotten based off of respectively making funny web videos and satirical news headlines is pretty amazing.