Financial news channel Cheddar News reportedly laid off several staffers Tuesday — just days after the network targeting millennials was sold by cable company Altice USA.
“We would like to have given you more notice of this action, but the decision was necessitated by unforeseen internal and external factors that required rapid adjustments in our business strategy,” Cheddar News management told employees in a memo cited by the New York Times.
It is unclear how many employees were laid off by new owners Archetype, the media company whose holdings include Army Times and Defense News.
Last week, Altice USA, the fourth-largest cable provider behind Comcast, Charter and Cox, announced the sale of Cheddar, which had an estimated 130 workers.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The Post has sought comment from Cheddar, Archetype and its parent company, the California-based investment firm Regent.
Several employees at the financial news channel Cheddar News were placed on unpaid leave on Tuesday. SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Altice USA, the American arm of the European telecom conglomerate, is the parent company of Optimum — the brand name of what was once James Dolan-owned Cablevision.
In 2019, Altice USA bought Cheddar, billed as “CNBC for millennials,” for $200 million.
In July, the Times reported that Altice USA hired Goldman Sachs to explore a potential sale of Cheddar News.
A month prior to the Times report, Altice USA laid off several high-profile hosts of popular shows at Cheddar, which like other digital media outlets have struggled to generate revenue from a shrinking advertising market.
Last week, Altice USA, the fourth largest cable provider in the US, sold Cheddar News. AFP via Getty Images
Cheddar was founded as a non-conventional cable news outlet in 2016. Instead of having cable providers pay a carriage fee for each channel, Cheddar aimed to generate revenue solely through advertising.
Jon Steinberg, who started the channel after a stint as president at BuzzFeed, pursued a distribution strategy that included having Cheddar stream on screens at gas station pumps.
Source link: https://nypost.com/2024/01/02/media/cheddar-news-furloughs-workers-days-after-being-sold-by-altice-usa/