Beme To Shut Down After Acquisition By CNN
The video streaming social media app Beme and the company that makes it have been swooped up by CNN. The announcement came from Beme co-founder and CTO Matt Hackett today, and it comes with some bad news for Beme users. According to Hackett, the app will be shutting down on January 31 as the Beme team focuses on new projects under the CNN banner.
If you're an avid user of Beme, this acquisition and incoming shut down likely stings a bit, but all of the work you've put into your Beme videos isn't going to be lost in the ether. Hackett writes that Beme users will be able to download all of their videos and reactions over the next two months. He also thanked the users who have helped to build a community around Beme since it launched back in July 2015.
Hakcett is upfront with his view that Beme was a failure, and says that this CNN acquisition will allow the team to retool its efforts to work toward a future where media offers a voice to everyone. "By joining forces with CNN, we're able to give our mission more than just one, startup-budgeted shot," Hackett writes. "We are going to hunker down and create something new. To do that with the full focus it deserves, we have to say goodbye to Beme."
The Beme team will "retain a lot of independence," once it settles at CNN. Hackett notes that the team will continue operating out of its own offices, and a drive is now underway to hire more engineers and creative talent. All in all, it sounds like Hackett is optimistic about the acquisition by CNN, despite the fact that it means Beme will need to shut down.
Casey Neistat, Beme's other co-founder, announced on November 19 that he would be ending his long-running daily vlog series. In the video he created to announce the end of the series (which you can see above), he says that he had fallen into a system for creating the vlogs that no longer offers a creative challenge. It now looks like the decision to end his vlog series could have something to do with the acquisition by CNN, as that's going to require a significant amount of his attention moving forward.
SOURCE: Matt Hackett