Can Buzzfeed Save Itself from Right-Wing Vultures By Selling 'Hot Ones'?

Once a beloved home of ridiculous internet quizzes and listicles we loved to hate, Buzzfeed has fallen on hard times in recent years. It’s a pretty common story for pop culture websites, but still a bit shocking when you think about what a behemoth Buzzfeed was in its heyday, once valued at $1 billion.

Buzzfeed went public in 2021 and has been losing value ever since, with stock in the company plummeting by 94%. Earlier this year, the company sold off Complex Media for $109 million to cut its losses. And last month, when failed GOP candidate Vivek Ramaswamy bought a stake in the company, stock prices surged. But he’s an “activist investor” with an agenda. He has been buying more shares and making terrible staffing recommendations that seem determined to turn Buzzfeed into another right-wing propaganda machine. Buzzfeed needs to raise funds to fend him off and now they’re trying to sell First We Feast, the company that owns Hot Ones for $70 million. So far, no one is biting.

Hot Ones is The Little Internet Show That Could. Host Sean Evans has been universally praised for his ability to interview celebrities while they sweat their way through a flight of progressively spicy hot wings. He’s been twice nominated for Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Entertainment Talk Show Host in 2021 and 2022. And the show has won Best Web Series Streamy and Shorty Awards since it began in 2018. Conan O’Brien’s recent appearance on Hot Ones was so good it was mentioned in The New York Times and Entertainment Weekly called it a “comic masterpiece.”

Your mileage may vary on the celebrities who are chosen as guests and some of the interviews are far more entertaining than others, but there’s no denying Sean Evans’ talent as an interviewer and host. The show averages about 3 million views per video, spiking into the hundreds of millions when celebs like Billie Eilish and notorious grumpy chef Gordon Ramsey have appeared. Sources reported to Bloomberg that the show generates about $30 million in revenue a year, primarily from brand and licensing deals.

Hot Ones could be a goldmine for the right buyer. The trick will be retaining Sean Evans as the host and ensuring the show retains its lo-fi charm. Media gremlin David Zaslav needs to keep his hands off of this one.

Selling it will make a sizable dent in Buzzfeed’s debt, although probably not enough to save it from Ramaswamy or other ruinous investors, so it might be a wash for the site regardless, which will be sad. The Buzzfeed we knew and loved died when they switched over to AI-generated quizzes and articles last year anyway. It would be great for First We Feast to find a new home.

Anyone got a spare $70 million lying around? Maybe, if all the Pajibans pool our money…