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Future of TV Cnn Technology

CNN to launch technology focused company with Beme’s Casey Neistat and Matt Hackett

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By Haley Velasco, Freelance journalist

December 2, 2016 | 3 min read

CNN has brought in the team behind video company, Beme, to launch a new media brand in summer 2017 dedicated to timely and topical video content powered by bleeding edge mobile technology. Still without a name, CNN has taken Beme co-founders Casey Neistat and Matt Hackett to create the editorial vision and digital innovation.

CNN to launch technology focused company with Beme’s Casey Neistat and Matt Hackett

CNN to launch technology focused company with Beme’s Casey Neistat / Courtesy of @caseyneistat

Casey Neistat is a talent himself. Known as YouTube personality, with over 5 million subscribers, Neistat connects with millennials through his content. Neistat has been crowned the executive producer to bring his editorial vision to mobile video technology content for a new audience. According to CNN, the team under Hackett will be a technology group that build technology “to enable the new company and also develop mobile video capabilities for CNN’s portfolio of digital properties.”

“The new company will be devoted to filling the world with excellent, timely and topical video and empowering content creators to use technology to find their voice. It won’t be what most people think of as “news," but it will be relevant to the daily conversations that dominate our lives. Casey has tapped into a highly engaged audience – they’re curious, hungry and young and they’re eager to learn more about the world. We’ll start there. And then we’ll find ways to connect with millions more,” according to a statement from CNN.

Last year, CNN launched a distributed video storytelling venture called Great Big Story, which focuses on short form non-fiction human interest stories (with no apparent tie to the 24-hour news cycle). It’s the first standalone entity launched by CNN that does not carry any of the parent company’s branding and is aimed at the intellectually curious 25-35 year old, cord-cutting consumer.

In this new project, CNN and the team from Beme are looking to engage a new audience “through authenticity, curiosity and meaningful conversation rather than cynicism, anger and outrage.”

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Future of TV Cnn Technology

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