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Getting In On the Joke, Univision Buys a 'Big Chunk' of The Onion

Spanish-language broadcaster Univision is buying a "good chunk" of the owner of The Onion, the satirical news site.
Editors and writers work on copy during a drafts meeting at The Onion offices in New York on Oct. 30, 2008.
Editors and writers work on copy during a drafts meeting at The Onion offices in New York on Oct. 30, 2008. Seth Wenig / AP file
By Associated Press

NEW YORK — It's not a joke.

Spanish-language broadcaster Univision is buying a stake in the owner of The Onion, the satirical news site.

Univision Communications Inc. said Tuesday that it is a minority investor. A memo from Onion Inc. CEO Mike McAvoy CEO to employees says Univision has acquired "a good chunk" of the company and may buy the rest later.

Former FIFA official Jack Warner holds up an article from the satirical website The Onion that said the World Cup would be held in the United States in 2015 instead of in Russia in 2018.
Former FIFA official Jack Warner holds up an article from the satirical website The Onion that said the World Cup would be held in the United States in 2015 instead of in Russia in 2018.Warner TV via YouTube

Univision spokeswoman Rosemary Mercedes and Onion spokeswoman Lauren Pulte both declined to specify the size of Univision's investment.

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Univision last summer filed to go public amid declines in TV ratings. Other TV networks have also been investing in new-media companies in an effort to beef up on digital and appeal to younger people.

Associated Press

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