BlackPlanet Up For Sale

Silicone Alley Insider (SAI) is reporting Community Connect, which owns social networks BlackPlanet, MiGente, and AsianAvenue, is reported to be in "serious negotiations" to sell itself.

Silicone Alley Insider thinks:

Barry Diller's IAC (IACI), which is launching a new Web site on April 10 -- RushmoreDrive, "the web destination that will change the way the Black community Drives the Web."

One guess on a potential suitor, courtesy a second tipster: Toronto's Avid Life Media, "a network of targeted niche brands with highly engaged users." If all goes well, the deal could be announced at the Web 2.0 conference in San Francisco later this month, we hear. (Investors "connected with" Avid Life Media bought HotOrNot for $20 million in February.)

BlackPlanet, Community Connect's biggest site, could provide a big built-in audience: 2.1 million U.S. uniques in February, according to Compete. Hitwise says it was the no. 4 U.S. social networking site last year, behind News Corp.'s (NWS) MySpace, Facebook, and Bebo, recently purchased by AOL (TWX) for $850 million.

IAC announced last year that it would launch an online destination for the Black community featuring topical content, relevant services and a platform for community interaction.

I personally think VIACOM's MTV would be a more likely buyer for these assets because BlackPlanet would be a natural fit with BET and AsianAvenue would be great with MTV Asia. Also VIACOM missed out on the MySpace deal so I would think there is no way in this world they are going to let these assets that fit so well with their current holdings fall into any other hand.

BET Networks launched BET's Digital Media Group last year, which include BET.com, BET on Blast, BET on Demand, BET Mobile and BET's digital video download offering. BlackPlanet would fit perfectly with BET's current offerings.