No Joke: The Onion Is Up For Sale

CHICAGO, IL — Satirical online site The Onion has been put on the selling block by its owner, Univision Communications, the Spanish-language media company announced Tuesday. The potential sale of The Onion and its other internet properties — humor site ClickHole, entertainment news site The AV Club and food site The Takeout — comes as reports surfaced earlier this month that Univision could be reducing as much as 15 percent of the Chicago-based website's staff.

Along with The Onion, Univision said it could be selling the websites that make up Gizmodo Media Group. Those outlets include tech-based Gizmodo, sports-focused Deadspin, feminist-centric Jezebel, automotive culture site Jalopnik and others.

"There is no assurance that the process to explore the sale of these assets will result in any transaction or the adoption of any other strategic alternative," Univision's statement said.

The privately held media company bought The Onion in January 2016. That was followed by the August 2016 purchase of Gawker Media's sites, which it rebranded as Gizmodo Media Group. The pickup of both of these digital networks had been an attempt by the company to attract a younger audience.

Univision has planned to talk with The Onion's editorial union about voluntary buyouts to cut staff, according to entertainment news site Deadline. But those negotiations have been delayed while employees were off during the site's summer hiatus.

The Onion began as a weekly satirical newspaper in 1988 at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. It gained national exposure once it went online in 1996, and the publication's headquarters moved to New York City in 2000. The editorial staff eventually was relocated to Chicago, and the print edition ceased publication in 2013.

Image via The Onion | Univision Communications