Categories: Highlighted NewsOLD Media Moves

Cheddar now on all OTT subscription services, prepping primetime

Business news channel Cheddar is launching its live-streaming news networks on Sony’s PlayStation Vue, making it the first content provider to span all over-the-top subscription services in the U.S., reports Todd Spangler of Variety.

Spangler writes, “As part of Cheddar’s push to bring in more revenue with the expanded distribution footprint, the company will launch a block of primetime programming next month, Steinberg said. The weeknight lineup will include ‘reality-business programming’ and a game show, he said. That will extend Cheddar Business’s original content wheel past its current live coverage from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. ET (after which the channel replays highlights from the day).

“Steinberg declined to provide details of its agreement with Sony for PS Vue or other distributors, but he said unlike other cable TV network startups, ‘We’ve never written a check for carriage.’

“The main revenue stream for Cheddar, which calls itself a purveyor of ‘post-cable networks,’ is from advertising and branded content. Last year, the company generated $27 million in revenue (up from $11 million from 2017) and Steinberg is shooting to nearly double sales in 2019.”

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Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.