Cheddar News Faces Unforeseen Market Challenges, Resulting in Sudden Work Stoppage for Rapid Adjustment

By Moon Harper

Jan 02, 2024 11:37 PM EST

Cheddar News, a financial news channel geared towards millennials, stated that unforeseen internal and external factors led to the abrupt work stoppage shortly after being sold by cable company Altice USA.

Furlough of Workers

Cheddar, the financial news network targeting younger viewers, put some employees on unpaid leave on Tuesday, marking the latest development for the startup. As stated in an email to the employees, the news network immediately placed the affected workers on furlough and prohibited them from continuing to work. The number of affected Cheddar employees was unclear, and requests for comments from Regent and Archetype representatives went unanswered.

Cheddar, founded in early 2016 with around 130 workers, was bought by Altice USA for $200 million in 2019. On December 28, Altice USA announced the sale of Cheddar to Archetype, a media company owned by private equity firm Regent, for undisclosed terms.

Acquisition of Cheddar News

Altice is the parent company of Optimum, formerly owned by James Dolan and known as Cablevision, which is an American branch of the European telecom conglomerate. In 2019, Altice USA acquired Cheddar, marketed as "CNBC for millennials," for $200 million, and in July, the Times stated that Altice USA enlisted Goldman Sachs to consider selling Cheddar News.

Cheddar's Origin

A month before the Times report, Altice USA laid off well-known hosts of popular shows at Cheddar. Like other digital media outlets, Cheddar has faced challenges profiting from a declining advertising market.

Cheddar was part of a group of digital media companies aiming to use the internet and video streaming to challenge traditional counterparts. Founded by Jon Steinberg, a former senior executive at BuzzFeed, Cheddar made deals to present its conversational financial news programming to people in various locations, even at gas pumps. Established in 2016, Cheddar was a unique cable news outlet. Unlike traditional channels, Cheddar sought to generate revenue exclusively through advertising rather than relying on cable providers to pay a carriage fee for each channel.

Cheddar features "Stretching Your Dollar," a live daily show from the New York Stock Exchange, and "Ready 4 Work," a docu-series following job seekers navigating the economy. One of Cheddar's notable achievements was reporting that AT&T planned to acquire the online ads company AppNexus for approximately $2 billion in 2018. And in 2019, Altice USA purchased Cheddar, a venture-backed media startup, for roughly $200 million.

Email Sent to Employees

On January 2, Cheddar employees got an email instructing them to halt work immediately, according to the Times, saying, "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."

In a statement on December 28, Archetype expressed excitement about helping Cheddar expand its reach and continue as the independent "Voice of What's Next" for informed and engaged citizens. Keith Bowen, president of Altice USA's news, advertising, and programming, stated last week that they are proud of Cheddar News's accomplishments within the Altice USA portfolio. He noted that Archetype is an excellent choice to take the network to the next level while allowing Altice USA to concentrate on its telecommunications, advanced advertising, and hyperlocal news businesses.