Growing pains for TechCrunch's gadget blog?
On Tuesday morning, tech gossip blog Valleywag posted a rumor that TechCrunch's small blog network might not be doing quite as well as its parent brand: Valleywag editor Owen Thomas said that gadget blog CrunchGear had made significant pay cuts and that at least one blogger had been fired.
Context & Ripple Effects
This lands one week after Silicon Alley Insider floated a rumored $100M-plus CNET buyout of TechCrunch, so any sign of weakness inside the blog network now reads as diligence material for that deal rather than ordinary gossip.
The claims come from Valleywag editor Owen Thomas and are explicitly unconfirmed: significant pay cuts at gadget blog CrunchGear, at least one blogger fired, and the network said to be underperforming its parent brand. With no comment from TechCrunch on record, the story is a rumor about a rumor — but it targets the exact asset whose health a CNET acquisition would depend on.
First-order effects
- CrunchGear's writers face immediate pressure if the reported pay cuts are real, and the blog's editorial output becomes the visible test of whether TechCrunch's expansion beyond its flagship brand can sustain itself.
Second-order effects
- If the CNET talks are genuine, buyers will scrutinize the network's revenue per property before pricing the deal, giving TechCrunch an incentive to either refute the rumor quickly or quietly restructure CrunchGear.
Third-order effects
- The episode previews the structural question every flagship blog faced as it bolted on side properties: whether a strong single brand could carry a multi-blog network, or whether networks would end up consolidated into larger media companies like CNET.
The trend: Mid-2000s tech blogging is entering a phase where flagship brands expand into networks and become acquisition targets, exposing the uneven economics of their satellite properties.