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MTV Networks’ MtvU to acquire online student newspaper network Y2M
MUMBAI: MtvU, MTV‘s 24-hour college network and a division of Viacom Inc., has announced an agreement to acquire Boston-based Y2M, the parent company of an online advertising network of 450 campus newspaper websites.
Adding Y2M to MtvU and to MTV Networks‘ overall portfolio is another step in MTVN‘s strategy to super-serve its audiences with relevant and innovative content, and to be a leader in the digital space.
Following MTVN‘s recent purchases of XFire, Gametrailers, IFilm and Neopets, this acquisition demonstrates the company‘s continued commitment to being a premier multi- platform media company across every screen consumers use.
The network reaches over five million college students via 450 online campus papers — the most powerful local media brand on campus — which serve as definitive on-campus information hubs, providing local news, sports, weather, event
listings and much more.
“This acquisition is in line with our business strategy of moving forward in the digital space and continually expanding our online portfolio of music, gaming, news and entertainment,” MTVN chairman and CEO Judy McGrath says. “Bringing MtvU and Y2M together is another avenue for us to be everywhere our audiences are, deepening our relationship with them and connecting them across every platform and device, all the time.”
According to an official release, MtvU and Y2M will together create stronger multi-platform offerings, giving advertisers the most effective and comprehensive methods to connect with college students on-air, online, on the handset, in print and on campus. MtvU‘s national advertisers will benefit from an increased ability to develop targeted, localized campaigns, and Y2M‘s advertisers can capitalize on MtvU‘s industry-leading expertise in emerging media platforms such as broadband video and mobile phones.
Additionally, the combination of Y2M and MtvU will provide editors of student papers in the College Publisher network the ability to easily include rich media and a whole suite of new features on their online sites without impacting the editorial or design independence of each paper‘s staff. New features that will become available to affiliates include enhanced community functionality, a vast library of emerging music, and the means to create university-specific online networks. MtvU will also offer the student papers access to the network‘s base of more than 120 top-tier advertisers, enabling new ad sales and revenue sharing opportunities.
“MtvU and Y2M complement each other perfectly — as the definitive college television and online student paper networks — and together, these two mediums are powerful connectors to college students across every touch point,” MTV president Christina Norman. “We can now provide new, innovative, turn-key methods for our advertisers to reach this powerful demographic and continue to find new ways to super-serve the college market.”
“Student publications are the lifeblood of college campuses, and we‘re looking forward to supporting them with new tools and advertising opportunities — empowering them to expand their offerings and audience, as well as improve their financial performance,” said MtvU GM Stephen Friedman. “Y2M‘s unmatched network and stellar team are a welcome addition to MtvU and together we‘ll unlock a myriad of new opportunities for college students and universities nationwide.”
“The combination of Y2M and MtvU will advance the mission of college newspapers across the country and enhance their commercial opportunities with regional and national advertisers. Together, this will strengthen our ability to serve the unique needs of our 450 university newspaper partners, the 7,000 student journalists who rely on our publishing and hosting technology, and the two million registered online subscribers in the College Publisher network,” said Y2M president and co-founder John Fees, “We are extremely optimistic about the potential this holds for our college newspaper partners, Y2M and MtvU.”
MtvU has grown rapidly since launching in early 2004, increasing distribution more than 35 per cent and tripling the size of its advertiser base.
The network has also proliferated on multiple platforms, becoming the first MTV Networks channel distributed in its entirety on broadband and increasing on campus events to more than 300 a year. This transaction is expected to close during the third quarter of 2006.
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Inshorts Group chief Deepit Purkayastha joins IAB video council for Southeast Asia and India
The co-founder and chief executive of the short-form content platform has been inducted into the IAB SEA+India Video Council, giving India a stronger voice in shaping digital video frameworks
NOIDA: India has long been the world’s most chaotic, multilingual and mobile-first digital market. Now, one of its most prominent short-video executives is getting a seat at the table where the rules are written.
Deepit Purkayastha, co-founder and chief executive of Inshorts Group, has been selected as a member of the IAB SEA+India Video Council for 2026. Run by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the council brings together senior leaders from Southeast Asia and India to shape standards, best practices and measurement frameworks for the fast-evolving video and digital advertising ecosystem.
The timing is pointed. According to the IAMAI-Kantar Internet in India Report 2025, over 588 million Indians are now consuming short-video content, with growth increasingly driven by rural and non-metro audiences. India’s active internet user base has crossed 950 million, with 57 per cent of users now coming from rural markets. Yet the frameworks that govern how video consumption is measured and monetised were largely designed for single-language, Western markets and have struggled to keep pace with the scale, diversity and complexity of India’s digital landscape.
Purkayastha is no stranger to these debates. He already serves on the AI Council at Marketing and Media Alliance India and as co-chair of the Digital Entertainment Committee at the Internet and Mobile Association of India. His induction into the IAB SEA+India Video Council extends that influence into the global video standards arena.
Inshorts Group sits squarely at the intersection of these forces. Its flagship product, Inshorts, India’s highest-rated short news app, reaches 12 million active users with 60-word news summaries. Its sister platform, Public App, reaches 80 million monthly active users across more than 700 districts and 12 languages, serving communities that most global platforms barely register.
Purkayastha said the opportunity was about building something more representative. “India today sits at the centre of the global video ecosystem, but the frameworks that define how value is created and measured have not always kept pace with the realities of our market,” he said. “Being part of the IAB SEA+India Video Council is an opportunity to contribute to a more representative and future-ready approach, one that accounts for diversity in language, context, and user intent.”
As a council member, Purkayastha will contribute to shaping regional standards across video advertising, measurement and platform governance, with a focus on frameworks that are native to India’s multilingual, mobile-first ecosystem rather than imported from global benchmarks designed elsewhere.
For years, India has been content to play by rules written for other markets. Purkayastha’s induction is a signal that it is done waiting to be consulted and ready to start writing them.
