Firstly the dire financial situation of the broadcaster which is being forced to sell a business proposition that it bought in a blaze of glory just three years ago.
Secondly that since buying the site,the broadcaster has found that its popularity has declined.As Paidcontent reports
Friends Reunited has withered on the vine - holding on to its core audience of subscription payers, rather than innovating to take on the likes of Facebook, cost Friends nearly half its user traffic between 2007 and 2008.
The fault of ITV? Quite possibly according to the same report which says that
Friends Reunited had been the star performer in what has been a lucklustre ITV web portfolio, making up two thirds of online sales (£22 million in 2007). That was before ITV decided to kill its cash cow by axing the subs, making Friends ad-supported last April - just in time for the advertising recession.
The sale will no doubt help the broadcasters debt position which stood at £663m last June.How much it would get for the site is less clear but surely in the current climate the £120m that it spent will be unattainable.
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