WireImage Succumbs to Getty, Jupitermedia Might Be Next

While we were off gallavanting with the von Trapps, a vigilant lenser pointed us to what is surely the first sign of the photographic apocalypse. Getty Images is buying the company that owns WireImages for about $200 million. But that’s not the scariest thing:

Jupitermedia Corp., another image bank, said on Thursday it is also in talks to be acquired by the Getty Images, which would give it almost half of the U.S. market for still photos, according to an analyst.

Almost half of the Bald Britney market? How could this come to be? Checking in with our photo-phriends, we’ve learned that there’s a simple explanation for celeb-heavy WireImage’s demise: They practically give their photos away. We’ve also heard whispers, unconfirmed, that the Getty/WireImages deal has since soured and WireImages is going to have to file for bankruptcy instead. Jupitermedia, as you know, acquired the Dynamic Graphics Group, including graphics.com, and Dynamic Graphics and STEP magazines, in February of 2005.

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