In Bid for Young Viewers, CNN to Launch Daily Show for Beme’s Casey Neistat

• Updated on: 2017-06-20
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When CNN acquired Casey Neistat’s social appBeme last fall, the news organization said that by this summer, the pair would have a stand-alone media company focused on “timely and topical video and empowering content creators to use technology to find their voice.”

They’re still “weeks away” from a fine-tuned programming announcement, but Mr. Neistat and CNN Worldwide President Jeff Zucker dropped some hints on what’s to come during a panel at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity on Monday.

Mr. Neistat said a new show, called Beme, will air four days a week, with the aim of ultimately airing seven days a week. The show “will talk about the news, but isn’t the news,” he said. Every day, he wants to tell you something you missed, something “you don’t know.” He’s also “dying to do an investigative reporting series.” He didn’t reveal more specific details on content or timing, only saying that it’ll launch when he deems it “very good.”

For CNN, it’s about creating something new with Beme, versus just taking video reporting and putting it on “a platform where young people go,” said Mr. Zucker.

However, rethinking news content for a much younger audience is indeed the objective with Beme, as well as other CNN ventures like the 2015 launch of millennial-oriented digital media brand Great Big Story.

The average age of a CNN viewer is 59 years old, which is more than twice the average age of a Great Big Story viewer, said Mr. Zucker. “Casey is someone I knew through my children,” he said. “[Beme] is a way to attract an even younger audience than Great Big Story.”

Still, old media and new media mashups aren’t so simple, and Mr. Zucker and Mr. Neistat have had to work through their differences.

Mr. Neistat described news shows with talking heads, much like those on CNN, as boring. “I don’t know who those people are,” he said. “I don’t have a relationship with them. They’re old.” He’d rather feature opinions from a “diversified cross-section of the world,” through an app, he said.

Also, a big media organization like CNN might handle a new show or product launch with a large ad campaign.

Mr. Neistat said he would prefer to roll out his new show without an ad and public relations blitz, when he’s ready. When he built his YouTube brand, he “didn’t have a big sexy ad or reel” that said, “this is the Casey blog, and it’s coming,” he said. “We’re trying to emulate that [here] with the tremendous resources of CNN.”

At one point, Mr. Zucker expressed his frustration that Beme had not yet rolled out its new content, but he also acknowledged the importance of letting Mr. Neistat handle things his way.

“I’d like you to launch last week,” said Mr. Zucker. “A thing we’ve learned in this process is we can’t rush that. At CNN, that level of patience is not something we have in long supply, but we acknowledge that we’re going to go down this road with you.”