Jon Steinberg and Dexter Goei / Photo Credit: Cheddar
Altice USA has announced that it has acquired financial news startup company Cheddar for $200 million. Altice USA is one of the largest broadband providers in the U.S. and it was an early investor in Cheddar back in 2016. Cheddar’s financial video content is distributed through platforms like Hulu Live, Roku, DirecTV Now, YouTube TV, and as a cable channel on Spectrum. The deal is expected to close in the next two months following regulatory approval.
Cheddar CEO and founder Jon Steinberg is going to become the head of Altice News, which will include Cheddar, News12 Networks, and i24News (24-hour Israeli news channel). News12 Networks is a group of local news channels owned by Altice that airs in New York and often features Cheddar content.
“Our goal is to make Altice News a leader in local, business, national, and international news everywhere as we look to build a live news offering for customers” who either pay for traditional cable or watch TV through other means, like on-demand streaming services,” said Steinberg in a statement.
Currently, Cheddar networks are available in about 40 million pay-TV homes through the aforementioned distribution platforms along with other MVPDs and a campus network of more than 1,600 owned and operated screens on 600 campuses called CheddarU. Plus Cheddar recently expanded its distribution to millions of homes through cable systems as part of carriage agreements with Comcast, Charter, and Altice USA. Plus Cheddar has a large social media following on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Snapchat as it generates more than 400 million video views per month. And Cheddar also owns RateMyProfessors.com — which is a website where more than 5 million students go to rate and review their professors every month.
“Cheddar has demonstrated an innovative approach to live news while building an engaged audience, solid followership and a strong brand,” added Altice USA CEO Dexter Goei. “As one of Cheddar’s early investors, we have enjoyed our partnership with Jon and admire the entrepreneurial spirit, energy and smart disruptive mentality that he brings to the news business. The Cheddar culture and mindset are the perfect fit for Altice USA, and we’re excited to welcome Jon and the Cheddar team to the Altice family. We look forward to seeing our growing news team continue to deliver the best content for our viewers and more opportunities for our advertisers.”
Cheddar broadcasts 19 hours a day of live news through two networks, which includes Cheddar Business (business news network that covers innovative executives, founders, products, and technologies) and Cheddar News (fast-paced general headline news network).
LionTree Advisors served as the exclusive financial advisor and Cooley served as legal counsel to Cheddar for this deal.
