Seattlest Caught Up in Gothamist Sale to Rainbow Media?

You knew when Kabletown bought NBC that it wouldn't be long before Cablevision went on a shopping spree of its own. The blog paidContent claims--in an exclusive--that a deal is being inked between Cablevision's Rainbow Media and Gothamist, LLC, worth $5 million to $6 million. (As a former editor of Seattlest, I need to run home and check my mailbox for substantial backpay.)

Not to be outdone, Business Insider reports that the two have been trying to hash out an agreement for months, but that nothing is official. So far, no one's commenting on the record. paidContent adds that the price includes "a performance-based earnout," and that Rainbow Media's strategy is to use Gothamist's indie city sites to support its "indie-local franchise for Sundance and IFC."

Since Gothamist doesn't pay its rank-and-file contributors, offering site editors only a small monthly stipend, I'm curious to see what corporate ownership will do to the thrill of writing for an "indie" site for free. Most importantly, how will this affect our viewing of the sluttish American Apparel "lace" models on Seattlest? Only time will tell.