Newsweek And Daily Beast Tie The Knot, Tina Brown To Run Newsweek

After ongoing talks and rampant speculation, Newsweek owner Sidney Harman and IAC head Barry Diller have finally agreed to merge their brands. The New York Times is reporting that Tina Brown, founder of IAC’s The Daily Beast website, will make what is certain to be a very closely watched move back to print as Newsweek‘s editor in chief. You’ll recall that, earlier, talks among Harman, Diller and Brown seemed to reach a halt when the involved parties could not agree on the extent of editorial control each would hold.

The merger marks the acquisition of a print platform for Diller’s IAC/InterActive, but it’s anyone’s guess whether Brown will be able to breathe new life into Newsweek, which has suffering from dwindling readership and a swiftly departing staff.

Although the terms of the merger have yet to be disclosed (an announcement is anticipated to happen tomorrow morning), it’ll be interesting to see what happens to Newsweek.com and Newsweek‘s Tumblr and whether these digital properties will be somehow folded into The Daily Beast’s coverage or vice-versa.

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