RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – Marshall Brain, the genius founder of HowStuffWorks, really believes that the company he launched as a hobby a decade ago is about to establish new paradigms in the world of entertainment.
“The deal with Discovery is exciting,” Brain wrote to The Skinny on Monday after Discovery announced the $250 million acquisition of HSW. “Discovery is such a huge and reputable brand, and there are so many synergies between the two companies. It will be fascinating to see how it plays out.”
Even though HSW is now based in Atlanta and owned by different people, Brain remains involved with the company from his Triangle home. He’s a content contributor in many ways – online, on TV – well, wherever HWS needs him.
“I am still very much involved with HSW – I have been fortunate to be the ‘media personality’ for the site since inception, and have gotten to appear on everything from the Oprah Winfrey show to Modern Marvels representing HowStuffWorks,” he wrote.
In fact, he added, “I’m scheduled to tape my fourth Modern Marvels show the beginning of November.”
Writing on the HSW site, Brain says the HSW-Discovery deal is a “fusion” of a TV powerhouse (Discovery) and a “major” Web site (HSW) that generates millions of unique users per month.
“The timing is perfect,” he says of the deal. “At this moment in history, we’re seeing the beginning of a new era for both the TV industry and the Internet, and the years ahead promise to bring tectonic shifts. So many technological possibilities are introduced every day that no one can really predict how it will all unfold. And that makes it exciting, because there is a lot of opportunity when the landscape shifts like this.”
For more on Marshall’s thinking, check out his column at HSW at the link with this column.
