News Corp’s Shine Group Buys ChannelFlip

News Corporation-owned Shine Group has acquired London-based web producer ChannelFlip for an undisclosed sum.

Online programming studio ChannelFlip has made web series for stars including Richard Hammond’s Tech Head, Jon Ronson’s Escape and Control, David Mitchell’s Soapbox, Dawn Porter’s Bad Girl Guides and Dom Joly’s Joystick, as well as original series Trendyboy and The Very Real Adventures Of Batman And Robin.

The company was co-founded by Justin Gayner, a former co-producer of BBC2 show QI, and Wil Harris. ChannelFlip is one of YouTube’s biggest premium networks with more than 30 million monthly video views.

With the acquisition, Shine Group Chairman and CEO Elisabeth Murdoch intends to turn her company, responsible for shows like MasterChef, Spooks, and Merlin, into a multimedia production company. “This acquisition further underlines Shine Group’s relentless commitment to delivering excellence across all platforms and our determination to develop powerful direct to consumer models and connections to audiences, wherever they may be,” said Murdoch.

ChannelFlip will continue to produce original online content for a number of platforms while bolstering Shine’s existing multi-platform portfolio.