CNN SET To Beme Up Younger Viewers
In an attempt to attract younger viewers, Adweek reports CNN has acquired the social video messaging app Beme, with plans to invest in the company and launch a new media brand. Beme allows users to post short videos that are automatically uploaded and shared with users’ followers. Along with the app, CNN is also hiring its co-creators, YouTube celebrity and tech entrepreneur Casey Neistat and Chief Technology Officer Matt Hackett, who will join the video team at CNN with plans to launch a new media brand next summer focused on storytelling for a younger audience. In a staff memo, CNN EVP of Editorial Andrew Morse said this move is a step to “future-proof” the news organization. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. “Casey is one of the most compelling voices on the web,” Morse wrote. “A filmmaker, entrepreneur and content creator, Casey’s YouTube channel has nearly six million passionate subscribers. His unique view of the world has enabled him to engage an entire generation.”
On Monday Neistat was named on Adweek’s 2016 Hot List as Digital Creator of the Year. For his part, Hackett took to Medium.com to share his thoughts about this next exciting chapter. Neistat will serve as Executive Producer of the new company, and CNN plans to hire dozens of additional producers, developers, designers and content creators. According to Turner, Beme — which has been downloaded more than a million times since it launched last year — will no longer exist as a standalone app while the team shifts to bringing the ideas and tech from the original product into the future company. “The new company will be devoted to filling the world with excellent, timely and topical video and empowering content creators to use technology to find their voice,” said CNN. “It won’t be what most people think of as ‘news,’ but it will be relevant to the daily conversations that dominate our lives.”
