BuzzFeed is trying to sell YouTube sensation Hot Ones for $70M

The First We Feast YouTube empire is still growing... but more slowly than before

6/26/24 5:49AM

Poultry in motion

Faced with a wall of debt and agitating activist investors, BuzzFeed is trying to sell one of its hottest commodities. But, after months of talks, the struggling media company is yet to find a buyer willing to pay the $70M asking price for First We Feast, the makers of smash-hit YouTube series Hot Ones, per Bloomberg.

Created by Chris Schonberger and host Sean Evans in 2015, Hot Ones — “the show with hot questions and even hotter wings” — joined BuzzFeed as part of Complex 3 years ago, and now has more than 300 star-studded episodes to its name. However, since Evans has produced the show with BuzzFeed under short-term deal extensions, contract disputes could shake up the tried-and-tested format as negotiations continue.

In the wake of BuzzFeed’s disastrous SPAC merger, which saw shares tank (once valued at over $1B, BuzzFeed’s market cap is now less than one-tenth of that), the company has been grappling with ways to pay off its $100M+ debt. In February, it sold media start-up Complex for $109M, but retained the crown jewel in the portfolio: Hot Ones. Now, just a few months later, holding onto its prized possession appears to be less of a priority than shoring up its balance sheet.

Slow burn

Its arguable that the success of Hot Ones — which has garnered many of the channel’s 3B+ views, and is currently vying for a talk show Emmy nomination — justifies the cost, with First We Feast reportedly making $30M in annual revenue... thanks in no small part to its lucrative sauce business.

Even so, the cynical view might be that $70M is a lot to pay for a media property that’s seeing its audience growth slow. In fact, in the last 3 years, First We Feast has added 3.4 million new YouTube subscribers. In the 3 years before that, it gained 6.6 million.

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On Tuesday, the company reported results for fiscal year 2026, highlighting better-than-expected profits driven by higher prices for coffee and sweet baked goods. However, at another point on the earnings call, CEO Mark Smucker pointed to one particularly jammy figure: in line with previous forecasts, it managed to sell $1 billion worth of its (almost always) crustless sandwiches, Uncrustables, in the last year alone.

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Paramount reportedly offers concessions to resolve multistate antitrust investigation

Paramount has reportedly offered up some concessions in an effort to prevent an antitrust lawsuit by California and about 10 other states, according to Bloomberg reporting on Monday.

Reuters first reported on the potential suit from a group of unnamed states last week, which could throw a wrench in Paramount’s plans to buy rival Warner Bros. Discovery in a Hollywood megamerger.

The list of concessions is unknown, though Bloomberg previously reported that Paramount is open to divesting some of its kids TV assets to appease EU regulators.

Late last month, reports said US regulators appeared likely to approve the $110 billion merger, following a meeting between Paramount CEO David Ellison and DOJ antitrust staffers.

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The list of concessions is unknown, though Bloomberg previously reported that Paramount is open to divesting some of its kids TV assets to appease EU regulators.

Late last month, reports said US regulators appeared likely to approve the $110 billion merger, following a meeting between Paramount CEO David Ellison and DOJ antitrust staffers.

$98B ⛽

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The IATA released its latest financial outlook for the airline industry over the weekend, forecasting a $98 billion jump in the sector’s collective fuel bill. The world’s largest trade group representing airlines expects the oil spike to halve profits by 49% from last year to $23 billion.

The group also expects profit margins to halve year over year, falling from 2025’s 4.2% to 2%. Still, revenue is expected to climb to $1.17 trillion from $1.07 trillion.

A surge in the cost of jet fuel has rocked US and global airlines this year, leading Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, JetBlue, and others to raise fares and ancillary charges like bag fees. Low-cost carriers, which operate on smaller margins, have been squeezed the hardest, resulting in Spirit’s shutdown.

“It’s a tough year for all airlines, especially those whose balance sheets had not yet recovered from COVID. And, of course, for those operating in the Gulf,” said IATA Director General Willie Walsh, who added that demand is holding up and about half of passengers expect to spend more on travel this year. “That bodes well for a strong northern summer peak season. The big unknown is how long travelers and shippers can tolerate the higher costs of connectivity.”

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GM has reportedly rehired more than 100 former Cruise employees, 18 months after shuttering the robotaxi unit

GM has rehired more than 100 employees it let go early last year when it shuttered Cruise, its former robotaxi business, according to reporting by The Information.

The hiring spree, which also includes employees from Nvidia and Uber, is geared toward ramping up GM’s plans for personal-use self-driving vehicles and not robotaxis. The former had been the focus of Cruise, prior to GM shuttering it in 2024.

Reporting last fall revealed that GM was attempting to rehire some former Cruise employees, but the scope of that effort wasn’t clear. More than 1,000 employees were laid off when the automaker scrapped Cruise, which it invested $10 billion into.

Google’s Waymo, Cruise’s former chief rival, is now worth $126 billion after a $16 billion funding round earlier this year. The company says it’s serving 500,000 paid robotaxi rides per week in the US.