Altice USA Buys Digital News Startup Cheddar for $200 Million

  • Cable provider was an early investor in online news channel
  • Network could bring in younger viewers who are dropping pay TV

Jon Steinberg, founder and chief executive officer of Cheddar Inc.

Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
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Altice USA, the fourth-largest U.S. cable company, agreed to pay $200 million for the news startup Cheddar, an online channel that appeals to the younger audiences abandoning traditional TV.

Altice, which provides video, internet and phone service to about 4.9 million customers under the names Optimum and Suddenlink, has a news division that includes the News 12 Networks, covering communities around New York City. It also operates an international news channel called i24News.