BuddyTV has raised $2.8 million in funding from Gemstar-TV Guide International, the operator of TVGuide.com, JumptheShark.com and other TV oriented Web sites.

BuddyTV founders David Niu, left, and Andy Liu. Photo: Mike Urban/P-I

PEhub reported the round, citing a regulatory filing.

BuddyTV co-founder Andy Liu confirmed the report in an interview this morning, telling me that the startup -- with just under 20 employees and more than three million unique visitors per month -- received a lot of interest during the financing round. In addition to Gemstar, Seattle area angel investors Geoff Entress (a principal at Madrona) and John Cunningham (a board member at InfoSpace) also participated.

Liu said that the company is already sharing links with TVGuide.com, with additional content deals to occur. He said Gemstar, which has taken a minority stake, "can benefit us on a lot of levels." Earlier this year, the startup received $250,000 from the Charles River Quick Start Seed Funding Program.

BuddyTV was founded by Liu and David Niu -- who both hold MBAs from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. They sold their previous company, NetConversions, to aQuantive in 2004. BuddyTV builds online communities around popular television shows and sporting events, with Liu saying that they currently cover about 410 shows. One of the most e-mailed stories from the site recently had this headline: "FOX's '24' Joins the Fight Against Climate Change."

Television Without Pity, a competitor to BuddyTV, was sold earlier this year to NBC's Bravo in a deal of undisclosed size. And while the large networks also are trying to build online communities around their shows, Liu said that many also are interested in partnering with BuddyTV because of the breadth of its offering. As the largest "largest independent TV fan site," Liu said that they can drive a lot of buzz for shows.

I profiled the company last year, with Liu saying his primary goal was to build a site with a "rabid fan base." Partnering with TVGuide would certainly help in that effort.