• by Ross Fadner , June 14, 2012

Video site Metacafe, which was once viewed as a realistic YouTube competitor, will soon be sold to Hollywood management agency The Collective, according to an industry report.

Peter Kafka of All Things Digital broke the news, although terms of the deal were not disclosed, and neither company would comment. Even so, “the transaction has essentially been completed,” Kafka claims.

At first blush, the deal may seem strange, given that The Collective is a talent agency that has a sizable roster of YouTube content providers and personalities, such as The Annoying Orange and Freddie Wong. Kafka says the agency is acquiring Metacafe for its ad sales infrastructure and team.

Since most YouTube stars rely on Google’s sales force to bring revenue and deals to them, The Collective wants to be able to bring that know-how to its clients directly.  

As Kafka points out, Metacafe was once considered a YouTube rival but today the site says it only has about 12 million unique visitors. Yahoo reportedly came close to buying the company for around $200 million.