Less than five years after acquiring Cheddar News, Altice USA has now sold Cheddar News to the media company Archetype, which is owned by the private equity firm Regent.
Cheddar News bills itself as “the only news network focused on the next generation of innovators and decision-makers.” It was first launched in 2016 with the goal of serving news to younger viewers who want to get their news across all traditional and OTT platforms.
Cheddar is distributed as a cable news channel but also across multiple streaming platforms and even gas-station screens.
Terms of the sale of Cheddar from Altice to Archetype were not disclosed.
In a statement yesterday, Keith Bowen, president of Altice USA News, Advertising, and Programming, said, “We are incredibly proud of what Cheddar News has accomplished within the Altice USA portfolio, growing its distribution to reach new viewers with fresh and exciting need-to-know news content. Archetype is an excellent choice to take the network to the next level while enabling Altice USA to focus on its telecommunications, advanced advertising, and hyperlocal news businesses.”
Archetype is a media company that oversees multiple news and lifestyle brands including Sunset Magazine, Military Times, Army Times, Defense News, Federal Times and HistoryNet. The acquisition also includes Cheddar's Rate My Professors digital property.
In a statement, Archetype said: "Cheddar has helped transform the way millennials have accessed television news since its groundbreaking debut broadcast from an iPhone in 2016. We are excited to assist Cheddar in expanding its reach.”
According to unnamed sources of CNBC, the deal is structured so that Altice USA will collect proceeds in the future if Cheddar meets certain performance targets. The payments could amount to about $50M based on internal projections.
Meanwhile Altice (not to be confused with Altice USA, which is an independent company) is controlled by the French-Israeli billionaire Patrick Drahi. The company has had a difficult 2023. First, there was a corruption probe of Altice Portugal related to tax fraud and money laundering. And now, Altice is struggling with high debt. Reuters has reported that Altice is looking to sell its Portugal business.
Article updated to reflect that Altice USA is an independent company. An earlier version incorrectly stated that its parent is Europe-based Altice.