CNN Acquires Social-Video Startup Beme, Co-Founded By YouTube Star Casey Neistat (variety.com)

CNN announced Monday that it has purchased video-sharing app Beme, and will work with its founder, Casey Neistat, to build a new media brand next year focused on storytelling for a younger audience. Casey Neistat is a YouTube celebrity and tech entrepreneur who launched Beme last year. Variety reports: CNN said the new venture that it's forming out of the acquisition -- aimed at reaching millennial viewers with the street cred of Neistat's reporting and commentary -- will launch in the summer of 2017. All 11 of Beme's employees will join CNN; the cable news network will be shutting down Beme, which had garnered more than 1 million downloads. New York-based filmmaker Neistat, who has more than 5.8 million subscribers on YouTube, announced earlier this month on his channel that he would be suspending his personal vlog to focus on new projects, one of which turns out is the pact with CNN. His daily vlog dispatches cover current political and news events as well as action sequences like his viral "Snowboarding With the NYPD" video last winter. Led by Hackett, formerly VP of engineering at Yahoo's Tumblr, Beme's development team will "build technology to enable the new company and also develop mobile video capabilities for CNN's portfolio of digital properties," according to the Turner-owned cable news network. Neistat, 35, will lead the new venture's "editorial vision" as executive producer. CNN said it will employ its global resources to launch the new media brand, and plans to hire dozens of producers, builders, developers, designers and content creators for the new company. CNN said the new Beme-based company will operate as a standalone business under the CNN Digital umbrella.

Comments

Re:pump the brakes, CNN

[smooth wombat]

I've never heard of these people. Are they supposed to be important or contributing to society in any way?

After all, every time we hear about a new mission to Mars or somewhere in space someone always asks why we're "wasting" money on research and discovery rather than poverty (which has always existed) or some fantasy about "curing" cancer.

Re:pump the brakes, CNN

[roninmagus]

I'm 32 and I know and watch all of the people mentioned. I don't want Casey Neistat. His content is garbage that doesn't apply to me.

They probably acquired his company because of the political pull that he has; he convinced hundreds/thousands of other youtubers to publicly endorse Hillary on their channels.