Can young, hip presenters make finance reporting cool? That is the question former BuzzFeed President and COO Jon Steinberg is trying to answer with Cheddar, an upcoming video network that will feature live reports from the New York Stock Exchange.
Cheddar, which has still yet to release a video, is supported by $3 million in funding as well as a strong leadership team led by Steinberg, who worked at BuzzFeed between 2010 and 2014. The network will feature daily live broadcasts the recap the big stories in business and finance, and it will look to set itself apart from its competitors by featuring a youthful tone. According to Steinberg, none of Cheddar’s hosts will be over 40 (he himself just barely fits that age requirement), and they will be allowed to dress more informally than a typical business reporter. “The talent will certainly be informed, but we want to approach it much more casually,” he said. “I don’t want to use TV-isms like ‘when we come back’ or ‘you’ll never guess what.”
Rather than building a new platform to house Cheddar videos, Steinberg is actively shopping the network around to streaming video services such as Amazon and Hulu. One of his big selling points is that Millennial-skewed business reporting is a niche that hasn’t yet been covered. “There hasn’t really been a new startup that focuses on these topics in the way that there has been in politics and sports,” he said.
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Between Cheddar and BuzzFeed, Steinberg served as an executive at Daily Mail before leaving in 2015. His latest project’s launch date has not yet been announced.
