On Monday Media24 and HuffPost announced plans to mutually end its South Africa licence. The companies launched HuffPost South Africa as a partnership in November 2016, with Media24 operating the newsroom and driving the commercial aspect of the partnership.
"We regularly review our portfolio of brands. The HuffPost SA audience numbers are strong and consistently hold steady on the list of top-10 news sites in South Africa," said Esmaré Weideman, CEO of Media24. "HuffPost SA was an important new voice in South African journalism and attracted a fresh new audience. Advertising revenues for HuffPost in South Africa have however been challenging. As an innovative and responsible business, we will continue to respond effectively to the market's needs and explore new digital opportunities."
HuffPost SA was ranked the ninth biggest news site in South Africa in June with a readership of 1,63 million unique users, according to Effective Measure.
Andreij Horn, CEO of 24.com, says staff at the affected news site are being consulted.
Jared Grusd, CEO of HuffPost, said: "We are proud of the editorial work and journalism from the South African edition and commend its ability to scale a loyal audience in such a short period of time. We continue to invest and grow HuffPost's capabilities and audience, both globally and in the African continent."
Media24 is South Africa's leading media company with interests in digital media and services, newspapers, magazines, ecommerce, book publishing, printing and distribution.