Defy Media


GRB & DEFY Media partner for cross-platform originals

GRB Entertainment and DEFY Media have partnered to develop and distribute an original programming slate for domestic and international distribution. GRB most recently acquired international rights to DEFY series Man at Arms and Super Fan Builds, earning the traditionally linear production company a presence in the millennial and Gen Z space. Similarly DEFY will now […]

Comedy Central taps Defy for digital shorts

Comedy Central International has struck a partnership with digital media producer Defy Media for the production and distribution of content under Defy’s key Smosh and ScreenJunkies brands. Comedy Central International and Defy Media will co-produce ten brand new episodes of the Smosh short-form pop culture-focused humour series Every Blank Ever for Comedy Central International’s digital […]

Smosh co-founder exits YouTube channel

as of today i am no longer part of smosh. i hope this video shows you why i feel this is the best decision for me ❤️ https://t.co/HDe4doIvts pic.twitter.com/wZFesMvm3D — Anthony Padilla (@anthonypadilla) June 14, 2017 YouTube personality Anthony Padilla is leaving Smosh, the youth-focused YouTube channel he co-created twelve years ago. Padilla is leaving […]

Defy, 3 Ball team for millennial productions

Digital content group Defy Media and LA prodco 3 Ball Entertainment have teamed for a series of original shows for aimed at millennials using online platforms. The pact kicks off with the coproduction of How It’s Destroyed, which will debut on Defy’s AWEme network. The show will demonstrates how complicated machinery such as satellites, biological […]

Defy launching Screen Junkies SVOD platform

US digital group Defy Media is launching an SVOD service with online content creator Screen Junkies. Screen Junkies Plus debuts on November 17, with new programming added every seven days and available on-demand to subscribers. Screen Junkies is behind YouTube successes Honest Trailers, Movie Fights! and ScreenJunkies Show. The new service will offer its first […]

Comcast debuts YouTube rival Watchable

US media giant Comcast has launched its ‘YouTube killer’, Watchable, a streaming site that debuts with videos from around 30 partners. Ad-funded Watchable has gone live in beta, with Comcast describing it as “a new, cross-platform video service that curates a selection of the best content from popular online video networks and shows in an […]

Top European MCN enters US market

Europe’s largest multi-channel operator, Zoomin.TV, has launched its production and distribution business in the US. The Amsterdam-based firm is the fourteenth-largest MCN globally, according to web analytics website SocialBlade, with more than 8,000 channels. Currently, around 500 more join the operator each month. It is also in the YouTube Partner Program. It has bases across […]

Viacom takes stake in web content firm Defy

Entertainment conglomerate Viacom has taken a minority stake in web content and channels giant Defy Media. In exchange, digital channel operator Defy will acquire Viacom’s gaming companies Addicting Games, GameTrailers and Shockwave. Defy already counts Lionsgate, ZelnickMedia and ABS Capital as investors, and Viacom will now take a seat at the firm’s board. Additionally, Viacom […]

YouTube gets original

With YouTube channels and their content providers toasted as the talk of MIPTV last week, multichannel operators, TV producers and analysts tell Jesse Whittock why original content is the key to monetising the emerging YouTube ecosystem. Question: What do a hyperactive Swedish video gamer, a geeky American comic duo and  DJ Avicii have in common? […]

Ex-WB Network boss Jordan Levin joins Xbox studio

Former WB Network boss and Generate CEO Jordan Levin has joined Nancy Tellem at Xbox Entertainment Studios. Levin has become executive VP and will be responsible for developing and producing original scripted and unscripted content, reporting to former CBS Entertainment boss Tellem, who is president of the Microsoft-owned studio. Levin was most recently president of […]