Newsweek, Daily Beast Talking Merger

NEW YORK (

TheStreet

) --

Newsweek

magazine and the

Daily Beast

news Web site are in deep discussions over a possible merger and the likelihood of a deal is increasing, the

Wall Street Journal

reports.

A merger would make

Daily Beast

co-founder and co-owner Tina Brown the editor of

Newsweek

on top of her existing editorial duties at the Web site, according to the

Journal

. The Daily Beast is owned by

IAC/InterActive

(IACI)

.

Stereo tycoon Sidney Harman bought

Newsweek

from

Washington Post Co.

(WPO)

in August.

Newsweek

is on track to lose at least $20 million this year and has lost many of its most well-known writers, the

Journal

says.

The

Daily Beast

, which now averages 4.6 million visitors a month, is expected to lose about $10 million this year, a person familiar with the matter told the

Journal

, though executives say it's on pace to turn a profit in two years.

A person familiar with the talks said there now is a better-than-50% chance of a deal getting done, the

Journal

says.

-- Written by Joseph Woelfel

>To contact the writer of this article, click here:

Joseph Woelfel

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