• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, April 12, 2007

Comcast Corp. has acquired the curiously named movie tickets and listings site Fandango, the companies said Wednesday. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Fandango's services and community will be key to the success of a new online entertainment destination, which Comcast plans to launch this summer. The site, Fancast.com, will encourage visitors to search, organize, and watch content across various devices and channels, including TV, computers, DVDs and wireless services.

Comcast already has a significant Internet presence through Comcast.net, which attracts some 15 million unique visitors per month, collectively watching an average of 80 million video streams.

Fashioning itself as an entertainment destination, Fandango presently attracts between 4 and 5 million unique visitors each month.

Fandango--which will still exist as a stand-alone site--and Fancast will be managed by Comcast Interactive Media, a division of Comcast which develops and operates Internet businesses focused on entertainment, information and communication.

"Adding Fandango to Comcast Interactive Media and creating Fancast.com will enable us to leverage our combined assets," said Amy Banse, president of Comcast Interactive Media.

Fandango will continue to be led by CEO Chuck Davis, who will work with Comcast Interactive Media to grow Fandango's online entertainment and ticketing business and expand the Fandango e-commerce experience across platforms and brands.

"Comcast will enable us to expand our reach with moviegoers," said Chuck Davis, Chairman and CEO of Fandango. Davis served as president and CEO of Shopzilla before joining Fandango as CEO last summer.

Fandango was founded back in 2000 by 7 of the 10 top U.S. movie exhibitors, including AMC Theatres, Carmike Cinemas and Cinemark Theatres. Accretive Technology Partners and Technology Crossover Ventures are also investors.