Silicon Valley VCs Bet Farm On Vacation Rental Site HomeAway

Technology Crossover Ventures, IVP, and Redpoint pumped $250 million into vacation rental roll-up HomeAway at a $1.15 billion valuation, says TechCrunch. The company will presumably use the money to snap up the remaining vacation-rental sites and then hunker down through the rest of the Depression.

HomeAway does have revenue, at least ($150 million) and even EBITDA ($50 million). Both numbers, we expect, will now head south in a hurry as consumers stop taking vacations. But acquisitions should get cheaper, and, hopefully, the company will be smart enough to hoard most of the take for the rainy day.

In other news:

* Blu-ray players slashed to $200 and still no one wants them.
* Viacom threatens to move HQ to inauspicious old New York Times building...but will stay put.
* Cost of TV ads has fallen 30% in past decade after adjusting for inflation.