Hearst Magazines
has bought pop-culture news brand Clevver from Defy Media, which shut down in November. Financials were not disclosed.
The deal brings Clevver's YouTube audience of
over 15 million subscribers to the legacy publisher. The news was first reported by The Hollywood Reporter.
The acquisition "underscores our commitment to premium video that
super-serves our audience of young women and will further accelerate our growth on YouTube and other digital video platforms,” stated Hearst Magazines to multiple media
outlets.
Clevver’s brands include ClevverTV, Clevver News, Clevver Style and Spanish-language Clevver TeVe.
Hearst Magazines’ 27 titles, which include
Cosmopolitan,
Women’s Health, Esquire, Seventeen, Town & Country, Elle, Marie Claire and
Woman’s Day, have
continued to top video
growth chartsof magazine publishers in recent months.
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A few days ago, Hearst Magazines posted two job openings on LinkedIn, one for a news managing editor and another for a video
production director, based out of Santa Monica, California.
Sister brand Smosh is reportedly in talks with Rhett & Link's Mythical Entertainment for a potential
acquisition of the sketch comedy channel, according to Variety.
Smosh has more than 24 million subscribers to its main YouTube channel.
Defy Media
shut down last fall, citing “market conditions” getting “in the way of us completing our mission,” per a company statement to THR at the time.
Clevver was founded in 2006 and sold to Alloy Digital. The company merged with Break Media to form Defy in 2013.
At one point, the company's portfolio attracted 75
million YouTube subscribers and 120 million followers on social media. Lionsgate and Viacom were some of its investors.