LONDON, UK: Digitalbox plc, the mobile-first digital media business, which owns leading websites Entertainment Daily, The Daily Mash and The Tab has acquired the business and assets of thepoke.co.uk (The Poke) for an undisclosed sum.

Launched in 2002, The Poke is a British satirical website which aims “to provide an antidote to the daily grind” and deliver fast-turnaround topical distractions. The Poke handpicks the funniest content on the web to enable its users to spend” time well wasted”.

While the Digitalbox-owned Daily Mash creates its own satirical spins on the news and modern British life, The Poke focuses on finding and editorialising others’ funny takes for wider consumption.

The Poke provides a great opportunity for Digitalbox to strengthen its position within the satire/comedy space. The Poke has over 3 million monthly sessions, which when combined with The Daily Mash’s 3 million monthly sessions, will establish the Digitalbox as the UK’s leading destination for online humour.

The Poke generated revenue of c.£0.17m in its financial year to November 2021. Notwithstanding this, Digitalbox expects to be able to materially enhance the contribution from The Poke in the medium term through integration with its Graphene technology platform.

The Company’s Graphene technology platform has already helped to deliver a strong return on The Tab investment. Since Digitalbox acquired The Tab in October 2020, it has seen significant profit growth, with revenue for the six months to 30 June 2022 up 52% as a direct result of the Graphene ad stack being deployed. Once the integration of The Poke is complete, the Company will look to optimise the site’s position, before exploring further opportunities for growth on the site.

James Carter, CEO, Digitalbox, said: “The Poke is another excellent addition to our growing portfolio of exciting digital assets. We have a proven and successful approach to integration which releases value from the assets we acquire. The inclusion of The Poke, alongside The Daily Mash and The Tab, creates opportunities to grow our audiences across the sites and strengthen the Company’s market position which is led by Entertainment Daily.”

John Plunkett, Editor of The Poke said: “I have enjoyed running this independent UK institution over the last five years as we have built on the success of the brand first brought to life in 2002. As the site continues to prosper in these uncertain times, we see it as a perfect moment to become part of a company with an enhanced tech infrastructure presenting further opportunities for growth alongside the Daily Mash.”

Based in Bath, UK, Digitalbox is a ‘pure-play’ digital media business with the aim of profitable publishing at scale on mobile platforms.

Digitalbox operates three trading brands, “Entertainment Daily”, “The Tab” and “The Daily Mash”. Entertainment Daily produces and publishes online UK entertainment news covering TV, showbiz and celebrity news. The Daily Mash produces and publishes satirical news content. The Tab is the UK’s biggest youth culture site fuelled by students.