CheapTickets.com pulls sponsorship of Gawker blog

CheapTickets.com has confirmed it has cancelled its sponsorship of recently launched Gawker Media blog Gridskipper.

Cheaptickets has exclusive advertising rights when the blog was launched at the end of January.

PR Week reports that Nick Denton, publisher of Gawker Media has declined to comment about CheapTickets.com, but, wrote via e-mail that would suggest a falling out between the two over either content or audience: “We’d rather lose the occasional advertiser than the character that attracts the audience in the first place. If an advertiser wants a safe environment, there are thousands of tired media outlets to choose from…Weblogs are supposed to be unexpected and wincingly frank. That’s an essential part of the appeal to a generation that’s turning away from network television and print media. We had a million visitors to our sites on Tuesday alone.”