Cheddar hires CNBC’s Castillo

Cheddar editor in chief Jim Roberts sent out the following announcement on Thursday morning:

Friends:

I have some wonderful news to share. Michelle Castillo, a media and technology reporter at CNBC Digital, is joining Cheddar’s Scoops team.

Michelle is an expert on the intersection of technology, entertainment and advertising, whether it’s streaming video, social media or the latest viral craze.  For the past five years, she’s produced exclusive and original reporting about Facebook Watch, about Apple’s original TV ambitions, about ESPN’s streaming service, Amazon’s video platforms, YouTube, Instagram and a host of related topics.

Only a couple of weeks ago, she broke the news on CNBC.com that Apple was in deep negotiations to buy the rights to a gritty Israeli drama starring Richard Gere that the family family-friendly company wants to be its version of “Breaking Bad.”

With her deep experience in the realms of streaming entertainment, technology and advertising, Michelle will be a fantastic addition to our Scoops team, complementing Alex Heath’s coverage of Snap, Facebook and other social platforms, and Tanaya Macheel’s coverage of crypto and fintech.

Before her work at CNBC, Michelle was on the digital media beat for Adweek. Her work has been published in CBS News, TIME, The Los Angeles Times and The Hollywood Reporter, among other places. Castillo graduated from UCLA with degrees in Communications and Political Science, and a minor in film/TV. She received her master’s degree from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Her Twitter handle is @MishCastillo.

This is a great milestone in fulfilling Cheddar’s ambitions to produce more original and exclusive content. I’m super excited to to see the reporting that she’ll be able to break on our networks and on Cheddar.com.

Michelle’s first day at Cheddar will be Jan. 2. Please join me in welcoming her to the family.

Jim