Cable company Altice USA is said to be considering the possibility of selling Cheddar News, a network once billed as “CNBC for millennials,” less than five years after its acquisition.
Altice USA has hired Goldman Sachs to help consider strategic alternatives to Cheddar News, according to three people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified. They warned that Altis is still weighing its options and may forego a sale. Representatives for Altice USA and Goldman declined to comment.
The sale marks the exit from Altice USA’s big bet on the streaming news company. Artis is run by French-Israeli billionaire Patrick Drahi. paid $200 million The deal was seen as a way to bolster the company’s news division, which also included the News 12 network. Cheddar touted itself as the future of financial news, featuring interviews with New York Stock Exchange chief executives, reporters and journalists.
Cheddar is not your traditional cable business. The network’s founder and former BuzzFeed president, John Steinberg, has signed a deal to distribute across a wide range of platforms.Among them are Gas Station TV (yes, it’s pumping) and he’s MTV’s college campus network (Cheddar bought 2018).
However, some of these contracts are not as profitable as cable distribution contracts. Rather than having cable TV providers like Comcast pay a per-viewer fee for Cheddar (known in industry practice as freight charges), the channel relies primarily on advertising revenue. That’s a tough business model for media companies competing with tech giants like Meta and TikTok for digital ad market share. (In fact, cheddar has recently dismissed employee. )
Altice USA shares have fallen about 70% over the past year. The company, which provides broadband services in 22 states, reported. Decrease in profit and revenue First quarter. News and advertising revenue alone was down 14%. Altice is due to report its second-quarter results next week.
