USA TODAY Sports Media Group Acquires News Curation Service Quickish

MCLEAN, Va., June 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The USA TODAY Sports Media Group announced today that it has completed its acquisition of the news curation and recommendation hub Quickish. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

In conjunction with the acquisition, Dave Morgan, Senior Vice President, Content and Editor-in-Chief for the USA TODAY Sports Media Group, also announced that Quickish founder Dan Shanoff has joined USA TODAY Sports as an Audience Development executive within Morgan's group.

Launched in January 2011, Quickish quickly established itself as a trusted and respected gateway to the most topical and timely sports news and analysis taking place across all social and media platforms. Unlike algorithmic or social curation systems, all Quickish "tips" are vetted by editors for quality, relevance, accuracy and proper credit, then published into an easy-to-follow stream.

Shanoff, who founded Quickish, is a veteran online sports media content developer with a footprint in digital sports starting in 1995, with the AOL "Greenhouse"-backed sports news pioneer Real Fans. A former vice president of Content for Associated Content, which was acquired by Yahoo! in 2010, Shanoff created and produced the popular "Daily Quickie" column for ESPN.com, and has worked in content development roles for, among others, Starwave, Sports Illustrated, and the NFL. In 2011, Shanoff was named to Business Insider's "Silicon Alley 100" list.

"There are very, very few people in our industry who grasp the digital and mobile sports landscapes as well as Dan," said Morgan. "Acquiring Quickish, and adding Dan to our team, are integral to our efforts to build USA TODAY Sports across all platforms, and in providing sports fans everywhere with the up-to-the-second news, information and viewpoints they're looking for."

"USA TODAY Sports Media Group combines a legendary position in sports journalism with a bold commitment to being on the leading edge of the sports experience for fans, from real-time quips to deep analysis and from compelling original content to keen curation," Shanoff said. "I could not be more excited to join such an incredible and innovative team of talents."

A native of Bethesda, Md., Shanoff earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from Northwestern University and has an M.B.A. from Harvard.

The USA TODAY Sports Media Group encompasses all sports initiatives across USA TODAY, as well as Gannett Co. Inc.'s 81 community newspaper properties and 23 broadcast television stations. It also includes the sports photography service U.S. Presswire, the Big Lead Sports digital properties, HighSchoolSports.net, BNQT.com and MMAjunkie.com. USA TODAY is owned by Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI).

SOURCE USA TODAY