When it comes to TV shows and movies, many media companies choose to go with low-cost alternatives to exact match domains. The movie Black Panther, for example, took just twenty-six days to reach $1 billion in revenue, yet Marvel opted not to acquire the BlackPanther.com domain name from GoDaddy's NameFind portfolio.
A rare example of a TV show that acquired a great domain name is the British panel show, QI (Quite Interesting). The general knowledge quiz has been on screens since 2003 and has spawned a number of popular podcasts, books, and live shows.
What is quite interesting from a domaining point of view is the fact that this TV show is hosted on the two-letter domain, QI.com. Back in the late 1990s, the QI.com domain was owned by a company called Quadrant International but by 2002 the domain was inactive since the company had changed their name to Ravisent.
According to archival copies of the domain, QI.com was acquired by Quite Interesting Ltd in 2003. It is unknown how much QI's holding company paid for the domain name, but the move to acquire a two-letter .COM, even in 2003, must have been a fairly substantial acquisition cost for a brand new TV show.
DNJournal's sales archives go back to 2004, a year after QI.com's acquisition. There were six sales of two-letter .COM domains listed in 2004, with four names selling for between $16,000 and $27,000 each and two names selling for six-figures each. This data would indicate that a five or six-figure fee for QI.com was probable.
Since then, the show has gone from strength to strength and QI.com remains as one of the company's valuable assets and is actively promoted via social media and podcasts. However, if QI looked to sell QI.com, a seven-figure fee wouldn't be out of the question.
It would be a highly desirable name for a Chinese investor since Qi translates to "air" (气) or "energy" in Chinese. "Qi" is also the wireless charging standard created by the Wireless Power Consortium.
It has no doubt proven to be a smart decision to acquire the QI.com domain name back in 2003 when they had the opportunity.
A rare example of a TV show that acquired a great domain name is the British panel show, QI (Quite Interesting). The general knowledge quiz has been on screens since 2003 and has spawned a number of popular podcasts, books, and live shows.
What is quite interesting from a domaining point of view is the fact that this TV show is hosted on the two-letter domain, QI.com. Back in the late 1990s, the QI.com domain was owned by a company called Quadrant International but by 2002 the domain was inactive since the company had changed their name to Ravisent.
The QI Logo
DNJournal's sales archives go back to 2004, a year after QI.com's acquisition. There were six sales of two-letter .COM domains listed in 2004, with four names selling for between $16,000 and $27,000 each and two names selling for six-figures each. This data would indicate that a five or six-figure fee for QI.com was probable.
Since then, the show has gone from strength to strength and QI.com remains as one of the company's valuable assets and is actively promoted via social media and podcasts. However, if QI looked to sell QI.com, a seven-figure fee wouldn't be out of the question.
It would be a highly desirable name for a Chinese investor since Qi translates to "air" (气) or "energy" in Chinese. "Qi" is also the wireless charging standard created by the Wireless Power Consortium.
It has no doubt proven to be a smart decision to acquire the QI.com domain name back in 2003 when they had the opportunity.
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