Shiny Media goes into administration

The UK’s largest and best known blog network Shiny Media has gone into administration with the company ceasing to trade.

Andy Merrett, who (use to write) for Shiny Media broke the story at The Blog Herald, writting that “Access to Movable Type, on which most of Shiny Media’s blogs run, was lost/removed yesterday” although there has been no official announcement yet.

A quick glance through Shiny Media’s range of blogs would back up the claim: the most recent posts on any of the blogs is dated July 19 (it’s July 21 as I type this) with many not having been updated since since July 16.

Shiny launched in 2004 in the first great wave of blog networks, and for memory was the first of its type in the United Kingdom. Despite raising $4.5 million in 2007, the company fell on harder times with problems first appearing last year when a number of sites were shut and staff put off. Shiny had though appeared to have turned a corner, and had started launching new sites and hiring again.

Shiny Media was always a hard ask: the network primarily had a UK focus for much of its existence, limiting its appeal in North America, a market over 10x as large. Shiny also went wide on content and sites, a typical model in the early days that has passed its used by date: most other networks consolidated titles or cut where necessary. Shiny was trying to run sports blogs alongside beauty and gadget blogs, and I know from experience that it’s not an easy thing to do.

(thx to Franky for the tip)