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'Hot Ones' becomes a hot commodity
The media company behind the chicken wing interview show has a new owner.
TOGETHER WITH
It’s Friday and a new estimate equates TikTok’s carbon footprint (approximately 50 million metric tons of annual emissions) to Greece’s annual carbon emissions. For context, Bitcoin’s annual carbon emissions are nearly twice as high — that’s a lot of mining.
Today’s News
FEELING HOT, HOT, HOT
YouTube’s favorite hot-wing interview show changes hands as BuzzFeed announces $82.5 million sale
The buyers: An affiliate of Soros Fund Management is part of the group that acquired First We Feast from previous owner BuzzFeed for $82.5 million. The podcasting company Crooked Media (of Pod Save America fame) is also part of the group, as is Rhett and Link’s entertainment company Mythical.
The biggest star on the First We Feast channel is becoming one of the company’s investors as well. Sean Evans, the host of chicken wing interview series Hot Ones, will take on the role of Chief Creative Officer once First We Feast is settled under its new ownership.
The deal: BuzzFeed picked up First We Feast as part of its acquisition of Complex Networks in 2021. The home of Hot Ones was spun off and retained when most of the other Complex brands were sold to NTWRK earlier this year.
The most recent transaction will allow BuzzFeed to lower its debut by about $88.8 million, according to Bloomberg.
The plan: First We Feast Founder Chris Schonberger will take over as the organization’s CEO post-acquisition. From there, more growth is in the cards:
“What began as a humble food blog has evolved into a powerhouse multi-platform brand. With new investment, we’re poised to expand into exciting new areas — including new platforms, live events, and talent acquisition — cementing First We Feast as the ultimate destination for pop-culture-obsessed audiences.”
Hot Ones and its various spinoffs will surely play a key role in the hunt for those new platforms. Sean Evans has already shown his interviewing chops — now we’ll learn how he performs as a C-level exec.
🔆 SPONSORED 🔆
This creator turned his YouTube dance videos into a seven-figure digital business. Here’s how he pulled it off:
If you’ve ever seen a viral hip-hop tutorial on YouTube, there’s a good chance Matt Steffanina is behind it. Before starring on The Amazing Race and dancing with stars like Taylor Swift, Matt grew his first YouTube channel to over a million subscribers.
…and then YouTube took it down.
Undeterred, Matt rebuilt multiple channels until he’d attracted over 21M subscribers. But even then, he still faced video removals, algorithmic changes, and other platform-specific threats.
So, he built his own community on Kajabi—and earned over 7 figures in revenue.
Through Kajabi’s creator commerce platform, Matt launched DNCR Academy: an online membership that gives users access to a library of over 100 virtual dance classes and tutorials. Kajabi helped Matt build a multi-million-dollar business he owns 100%—one unaffected by platform updates, algorithms, and video takedowns.
What will you build on Kajabi?
HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰
Amazon is looking to crack down on its high volume of paid testimonials by soliciting reviews from influencers who post about products on platforms like YouTube and TikTok. (Bloomberg)
In an informal poll on X, Kick CEO Eddie Craven asked users how they feel about the platform’s moderation. He got his answer: More than half of the respondents think Kick is too harsh. (Dexerto)
Some LinkedIn creators have dramatically improved their engagement by embracing the platform’s push into TikTok-style short-form videos. (Business Insider)
The price of YouTube TV is going up. Again. The “rising cost of content” is to blame, according to YouTube. (Variety)
TRIAL RUN
Not sure if your followers will like your Instagram video? Upload a Trial Reel first.
New feature: Meta has brought a new posting option to Instagram Reels. Creators who use the TikTok-style vertical video format now have the option to upload Trial Reels, which are shared with non-followers before they show up on the main content grid.
Note that some followers may still see a Trial Reel if it is sent to them in a DM. They could also stumble upon the test upload by searching for one of its specific tags or soundtrack choices.
More creator options: Stars like MrBeast have identified thumbnail A-B tests as a good strategy for optimizing videos during the first few minutes post-upload. (YouTube seems to support that philosophy itself.)
In a sense, Trial Reels are a different type of A-B test. After 24 hours, creators will be able to see how their experimental content performs and will then have the choice to share well-performing uploads with their followers.
The results: In theory, that process takes some guesswork out of mastering Instagram’s recommendation algorithm. The first creators who have used Trial Reels have expressed satisfaction with the product.
"We’re already seeing early success from creators who have had access. They report that their fresh content ideas are performing well with both new audiences and existing followers.”
Other creators will soon add their impressions as well. Trial Reels is rolling out now and will become available for more creators “in the coming weeks.”
WATCH THIS 📺
The history of slipping on banana peels is stranger than you think
Pretty Good returns: Jon Bois’ long-running YouTube series is filled with curious stories (typically culled from the world of sports) that are told through a three-dimension matrix of charts, graphs, maps, and news clippings.
In his new video, Bois admits that his fascination with banana peel pratfalls is personal: He was the victim of a vaudevillian slip while walking in Brooklyn.
Pretty a-peel-ing: The YouTube audience is split between some viewers who are willing to watch a 33-minute deep dive into banana peels and some others who think that sounds like a colossal waste of time. But if you’ve never watched a Secret Base video before, you might be surprised by how much excitement Bois injects into his seemingly mundane subject matter.
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Today's newsletter is from: Emily Burton, Drew Baldwin, Sam Gutelle, and Josh Cohen.