Demand Media buys minority stake in liveblogging firm CoveritLive

Demand Media, the company behind social media platform Pluck, has bought a minority stake in liveblogging technology firm CoveritLive.

Demand Media will now offer CiL's tools to its customers, including the Washington Post and Sky News Online, which uses Pluck's SiteLife to power its user profile pages, commenting and discussion boards.

The liveblogging software will be integrated into the Pluck package as part of the deal, a press release said.

"Dozens of mutual customers have already independently made the decision to use our products to drive social engagement on their websites. Together, we'll deliver an enterprise class solution that delights millions of consumers each month," said Keith McSpurren, CiL founder and president, in the release.

According to the company, liveblogs using CiL's technology currently generate more than 100 million monthly minutes of viewing on the sites using them.

In May, McSpurren told Journalism.co.uk that the CiL main site, which also hosts all current liveblogs, had attracted 25 million page views in a week.

The site was looking to introduce a payment scheme to news organisations for one-off users at $25 and multiple users at $100, he said at the time.

But in a blog post earlier this month, McSpurren hinted at the partnership with Demand Media and a move away from a paid-for model.

"CoveritLive has a new strategic investor. They are also a tremendously important partner on a number of fronts to help us gain distribution and turn on revenue generation," he blogged on August 10.

"The biggest short-term impact of the negotiation process is that CiL did not turn on our expected pricing strategy that I had spoken to a few of you about in person. I'd apologise, but since you continued to get the product for free, let's call it even."

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