Cheddar, the ‘CNBC for Millennials’, Furloughs Workers

Financial news network Cheddar placed at least some of its employees on unpaid leave on Tuesday, the latest development for the startup that bills itself as a destination for younger viewers.

The news network has immediately placed affected employees on furlough and barred employees from further work, according to an email sent to employees.

“We would have liked to provide you with more notice of this action, but the decision was necessary due to unforeseen internal and external factors that required rapid adjustments to our business strategy,” said the email, which was seen by The New York Times.

Altice USA, the cable company that owned Cheddar, announced last week that it had sold the network to Archetype, a media company owned by California investment firm Regent LP. Archetype’s holdings include a portfolio of titles focused on military history, including Army Times and Defense News, and sites including the popular review platform RateMyProfessors.

It was unclear how many employees at Cheddar were affected by the move. Representatives for Regent and Archetype did not respond to requests for comment.

Like many digital media startups, Cheddar has faced a tough online advertising market in recent years. In June, Altice USA laid off anchors for some of Cheddar’s popular shows, along with much of their production staff.

Cheddar was among an ambitious group of digital media companies that vowed to embrace the Internet and video streaming to disrupt their traditional counterparts. Its founder, Jon Steinberg, was a former senior executive at BuzzFeed, who made a series of deals to bring Cheddar’s chatty financial news program to people wherever they were — including at the gas pump.

Cheddar’s programming includes shows like “Stretching Your Dollar” — a daily live show from the New York Stock Exchange — and “Ready 4 Work,” a docuseries that follows job seekers trying to navigate the economy. One of Cheddar’s biggest firsts came in 2018, when the network reported that AT&T planned to acquire online advertising company AppNexus for approximately $2 billion.

Altice USA Bought cheddar – then a venture-backed media start-up – for approximately $200 million in 2019.

Cheddar’s new parent company, Regent, has invested in media, technology, retail and consumer products, including the Club Monaco, Zulily and eBay brands. The company has acquired more than 30 companies since 2015 and its portfolio companies employ more than 20,000 people worldwide.