CNN isn’t new to the digital space. Aside from taking great pains to build up its own brand’s digital media presence, it also helped to launch the short-form video publication Great Big Story last year. Now the network has acquired Beme, a video-sharing app co-founded by Tumblr vet Matt Hackett and YouTube star Casey Neistat. Deal terms weren’t disclosed. With the acquisition, CNN says it will form a new venture – launching next summer – geared toward millennial viewers. Neistat, a filmmaker and reporter with 5.8 million YouTube subs, will take charge of the new venture’s editorial direction and, presumably, serve as its primary on-camera presence. (He’ll serve as Executive Producer.) Beme currently has 11 employees, and they’ll all be joining CNN. The only thing that won’t survive the acquisition is the Beme app itself, which CNN intends to shutter.
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