Viacom acquires AwesomenessTV
July 30, 2018
Viacom has agreed a deal to acquire AwesomenessTV, a youth-oriented digital media company. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, however, Viacom is paying reportedly well below the $650 million (€556.2m) valuation of the company – with suggestions the sale price is closer to $350 million.
AwesomenessTV will be integrated into Viacom’s portfolio of brands and live within the Viacom Digital Studios division headed by president Kelly Day, formerly chief business officer of AwesomenessTV.
Current AwesomenessTV CEO, Jordan Levin, who has been with the company since May of 2017, will be leaving following a transition period post-acquisition.
Viacom sees AwesomenessTV as boosting its push to produce original premium digital programming with social-video distribution for young, mobile audiences at scale. The metwork reaches 158 million unique users with some 300 million monthly views. In addition, AwesomenessTV brings with it a full production studio with an existing library of more than 200 hours of long-form TV series and feature films.
“Awesomeness has done an incredible job building their brand into a digital media powerhouse for today’s most sought-after and hard-to-reach youth audiences,” Day said in a statement. “The team brings strong digital expertise, deep connections with top talent and influencers, a world-class television and film studio, and a robust branded content team and creative agency that will accelerate the growth and scale of Viacom Digital Studios.”