Defy Media was an American digital media company that produced original online content for the 12–34 age group. Originally founded in 1996 as Alloy Online (later Alloy Digital), the final company was formed in 2013 by its merger with

Break Media Break Media was an American digital media company that owned several Internet properties targeted at men (males aged 18–34 make up 70% of their visitors), including Break.com (its first website), Screen Junkies, CagePotato, Chickipedia, Hol ...

. On November 6, 2018, the company ceased operations after its assets were frozen by creditors leaving channels like

Smosh Smosh is an American YouTube sketch comedy- improv collective founded by Anthony Padilla and Ian Hecox. In 2002, Padilla created a website named "smosh.com" for making Flash animations, and he was later joined by Hecox. They began to post vide ...

without a company. Several former employees blamed poor financial management, while high overhead from YouTube, legal troubles, overly-aggressive expansion, and a shrinking advertising market were also described as contributing factors.

History

1996–2009: Alloy, Inc.

Alloy, Inc. (also known as Alloy Online) was founded in 1996 by James K. Johnson and Matthew Diamond as a holding company for ''Alloy'', a teen-oriented magazine and website. By the time the company went public in May 1999, the website earned $15.5 million in monthly revenue and 1.3 million registered users. In January 2000, they purchased book publisher 17th Street Productions, renaming it

Alloy Entertainment Alloy Entertainment (formerly Daniel Weiss Associates and 17th Street Productions) is a book packaging and television production unit of Warner Bros. Television Studios. It produces books, television series, and feature films. Alloy Entertainment ...

. Alloy's additional early assets included

Delia's Delia's, Inc. (stylized as dELiA*s) is a lifestyle brand of apparel & accessories, primarily targeting girls and young women. From its founding in 1993 through the early 2010s, Delia's was an independent retailer and direct marketer, and in it ...

(acquired 2003, spun-off in 2005), CCS.com (acquired 2000, sold to

Foot Locker Foot Locker Retail, Inc. is an Americans, American sportswear and footwear retailer, with its headquarters in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, and operating in 28 countries. Although established in 1974, and founded as a separate company in ...

in 2008), and

Channel One News Channel One News was an American news content provider. The daily news program was accompanied by commercial advertising for marketing in schools, with supplementary educational resources. The Peabody award-winning Channel One News program was ...

(acquired 2007, sold to

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (; HMH) is an American publisher of textbooks, instructional technology materials, assessments, reference works, and fiction and non-fiction for both young readers and adults. The company is based in the Financial Dist ...

in 2014).

2009–2013: Alloy Digital

In 2009, Alloy created a division called Alloy Digital Networks to hold its online properties. Alloy was then made private through acquisition by an investment group led by ZMC in 2010, and was re-incorporated as Alloy Digital in 2011. Within the next two years, Alloy Digital acquired

, Themis Media (parent company of ''The Escapist'' and

WarCry Network WarCry Network (or WarCry.com per the URL) was a web portal centered on the MMO (massively multiplayer online) genre of video games. It boasted a large community of professional web sites and databases for these games. One of the regular features ...

Generate LA-NY Generate is a Los Angeles-based entertainment studio that produces content for distribution across media, including the Internet, television, web television, film, video games, mobile devices and books. The company completed a $6 million Series A ...

, and Clevver Media. ZMC also sold Alloy Entertainment to

Warner Bros. Television Warner Bros. Television Studios (operating under the name Warner Bros. Television; formerly known as Warner Bros. Television Division) is an American television production and distribution studio of the Warner Bros. Television Group division of ...

in 2012.

2013–2017: Merger and investment

In October 2013, Alloy Digital and Break Media merged to become Defy Media. The deal was brokered by

RBC Capital Markets RBC Capital Markets is a global investment bank providing services in banking, finance, and capital markets to corporations, institutional investors, asset managers, and governments globally. Locations span 58 offices in 14 countries across North ...

, and the resulting entity was owned in part by ZMC,

ABS Capital Partners ABS Capital Partners is an American private equity firm focused on investments in software and tech-enabled services businesses across a range of industries, including FinTech, Healthcare, EdTech, eCommerce, cybersecurity, and Smart Cities. Found ...

, and

Lionsgate Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian-American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently headquartered ...

Viacom Viacom, an abbreviation of Video and Audio Communications, may refer to: * Viacom (1952–2006), a former American media conglomerate * Viacom (2005–2019), a former company spun off from the original Viacom * Viacom18, a joint venture between Par ...

purchased a stake of Defy Media in 2014, in exchange for ownership of

GameTrailers ''GameTrailers'' (''GT'') was an American video gaming website created by Geoffrey R. Grotz and Brandon Jones in 2002. The website specialized in multimedia content, including trailers and gameplay footage of upcoming and recently released v ...

, Addicting Games, and

Shockwave In physics, a shock wave (also spelled shockwave), or shock, is a type of propagating disturbance that moves faster than the local speed of sound in the medium. Like an ordinary wave, a shock wave carries energy and can propagate through a me ...

. In 2016, Defy settled a $70 million investment by

Wellington Management Company Wellington Management Company is a private, independent investment management firm with client assets under management totaling over US$1 trillion based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. The firm serves as an investment advisor to over 2 ...

, and ZMC exited from investment in 2017.

2018: Decline and dissolution

In March 2018, Defy Media laid off 8% of its headcount, exiting its

programmatic advertising Online advertising, also known as online marketing, Internet advertising, digital advertising or web advertising, is a form of marketing and advertising which uses the Internet to promote products and services to audiences and platform users. ...

and video licensing and syndication businesses. Joe Bereta, creative director of

, left his position and was replaced by a former comedy partner, Luke Barats. In June, multiple publishers claimed that Defy had not paid them for advertising. One of those publishers,

Topix , commonly known as TOPIX, along with the Nikkei 225, is an important stock market index for the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) in Japan, tracking all domestic companies of the exchange's Prime market division. It is calculated and published by the T ...

, filed a lawsuit for $300,000. In July, Defy sold ''The Escapist'', to Enthusiast Gaming, and ScreenJunkies, to

Fandom A fandom is a subculture composed of fans characterized by a feeling of empathy and camaraderie with others who share a common interest. Fans typically are interested in even minor details of the objects of their fandom and spend a significant ...

. In fall 2018, former CEO Matt Diamond, along with other employees, made multiple offers to the company's senior creditor, Ally Bank, to purchase the company. The bank ultimately rejected those offers, and on November 6, 2018, Defy Media announced that it was shutting down operations effective immediately and laying off all employees at its Beverly Hills production office. Less than a day after this announcement, the company's assets were frozen by creditors. Former employees and executives blamed poor financial practices and unrealistic investments. An over-reliance on major social media platforms and changes in market space for

new media New media describes communication technologies that enable or enhance interaction between users as well as interaction between users and content. In the middle of the 1990s, the phrase "new media" became widely used as part of a sales pitch for ...

were also described as contributing factors. Smosh CEO Ian Hecox stated that he was looking to find a new outlet for the Smosh brand. On February 22, 2019,

Mythical Entertainment Rhett James McLaughlin (born October 11, 1977) and Charles Lincoln "Link" Neal III (born June 1, 1978) are an American comedy duo. Self-styled as "Internetainers" (a portmanteau of "Internet" and "entertainers"), they are known for creating and ...

acquired Smosh."the rumors are true...We Found a Home!"
Smosh. February 22, 2019. Retrieved March 20, 2019. Defy Media's former Head of Audience Development, Matthew "MatPat" Patrick, stated that the company stole $1.7 million dollars from him and other YouTubers. He claimed that the company was a

Ponzi scheme A Ponzi scheme (, ) is a form of fraud that lures investors and pays profits to earlier investors with funds from more recent investors. Named after Italian businessman Charles Ponzi, the scheme leads victims to believe that profits are comin ...

and was using YouTube creators' money in order to look more attractive to outside investors.

Content

Defy Media owned and operated online brands including

Shut Up! Cartoons ''Shut Up! Cartoons'' was an adult animation channel project created by the Smosh duo (Anthony Padilla, Ian Hecox) and Barry Blumberg that features various animated videos. Shut Up! Cartoons launched on April 30, 2012 with ''Do's and Don'ts'' an ...

, Smosh Games, Clevver Media,

Break.com Break.com (formerly Big-boys.com) was an entertainment and humor website founded in 1998 that featured comedy videos, flash games, and pictures among other material. The website's target audience was men aged 18–35. After shutting down on No ...

, '' The Escapist'', AddictingGames.com,

Gurl.com Gurl.com (formerly stylized as gURL.com from 1996 to 2011) was an American website for teenage girls that was online from 1996 to 2018. It was created by Rebecca Odes, Esther Drill, and Heather McDonald as a resource centered on teen advice, bo ...

, MadeMen, CagePotato, The Warp Zone and Chickipedia, with some brands being inherited from Break Media. Each of these brands operated a dedicated website and

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

channel in or about comedy, filmed entertainment, news, video games, viral content, girl culture, men culture, or

MMA Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on strike (attack), striking, grappling and ground f ...

. Defy Media's online program offerings included ''The Single Life'', '' The Confession'', ''Fashion on the Fly'', ''Dating Rules'', ''Chasing'', ''Style Rules'', ''Wendy'', ''Style Setters'', and ''The Sub''. According to ComScore, in 2012, Defy counted more than 38 million followers among its owned brands, reaching 221 million unique visitors each month. Together, its channels reached over 80 million video viewers monthly.

Brands

Defy Media owned various brands including viral video site

, MadeMen (a website about how to be a man), flash game sites AddictingGames.com, Shockwave.com, DIY prop, cosplay channel Awe.Me, and Prank It FWD (Forward).

Former sites/channels

Over the years, Defy Media shuttered numerous websites and channels, mostly underperforming ones left over from the Alloy Digital and Break Media merger that formed the company. Among these former sites include MMA website CagePotato, Chickipedia, HolyTaco, AllLeftTuns, and TuVez. Defy Media also sold off some brands to other companies.

Game Theory

Game Theory was launched in 2011. Its founder is Matthew Patrick.

Shut Up! Cartoons

Shut Up! Cartoons was launched as a spin-off of

in April 2012. It featured original cartoons and animated videos. The channel consistently ranked in the top 25 for weekly views. Original animated series featured on the channel included ''Zombies vs. Ninjas'', ''Pubertina'', '' Krogzilla Gets a Job'', ''Oishi High School Battle'', ''Smosh Babies'', and ''Paper Cuts''. The channel ceased operations on June 23, 2017.

Screen Junkies

The site focuses on film and television related topics. The group also includes Screen Junkies News, formerly ClevverMovies. ScreenJunkies is home for shows like ''Honest Trailers'' which is a series of parody

trailers Trailer may refer to: a Transportation * Trailer (vehicle), an unpowered vehicle pulled by a powered vehicle ** Bicycle trailer, a wheeled frame for hitching to a bicycle to tow cargo or passengers ** Full-trailer ** Semi-trailer **Horse trailer ...

of films, The Screen Junkies Show which covers a variety of topics in film and television, and Movie Fights & TV Fights where cast debates various films or TV shows. On October 6, 2017, co-creator Andy Signore was suspended by Defy Media after accusations of sexual assault and sexual harassment made by female fans and coworkers became public. Several of the women also claimed that complaints made to Defy Media's HR department and management about the incidents had been suppressed or ignored by the company for several months until the women involved made the allegations public. Two days later, Screen Junkies announced on their Twitter page that Signore's employment was terminated effective immediately as "there is no justification for this egregious and intolerable behavior." On July 2, 2018, it was announced that Defy Media sold Screen Junkies to

''The Escapist''

''The Escapist'' was acquired by Alloy Digital in November 2012. It targets video-game enthusiasts. In 2008, the site won a Webby Award and a People's Voice Award. The website generates 28 million page views each month. In 2012, ''The Escapist'' launched the Escapist Expo in

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

. The second annual took place in October 2013. The website was part of the AddictingGames Network alongside flash game site AddictingGames.com until July 2018 when ''The Escapist'' was sold to Enthusiast Gaming, the owner of ''

Destructoid ''Destructoid'' is a website that was founded as a video game-focused blog in March 2006 by Yanier Gonzalez, a Cuban-American cartoonist and author. Enthusiast Gaming acquired the website in 2017, and sold it to Gamurs Group in 2022. History ' ...

'' in 2018.

''Clevver Media''

Clevver Media was founded in 2006 by Michael Palmer and Jorge Maldonado and acquired by Alloy Digital in June 2012. The millennial target platform operates five entertainment and celebrity-focused YouTube channels, including ClevverTV, ClevverMusic, ClevverNews, ClevverStyle and ClevverTeVe. In 2012, Clevver Media ranked in the top 10

networks, according to ComScore.

Joslyn Davis Joslyn Davis is a former on-air host and producer for ClevverTV, a brand formerly owned and operated by Defy Media. She now appears in YouTube videos produced by Shared Media alongside her friend Lily Marston. Early life She completed internsh ...

served as the executive producer. Hosts/producers have included

Deidre Behar Deidre Behar (born October 29, 1988) is an American writer, producer and host for ''Entertainment Tonight''. In 2012, Behar joined Defy Media's Clevver Media as a host, producer and writer. She regularly appeared with Katie Krause. With Clevver, ...

, Tatiana Carrier, Lily Marston, Erin Robinson, Drew Dorsey, and Sinead De Vries among others. The Clevver brand was the second-largest YouTube channel group for sponsor content in the Defy Media group of brands. Lily Marston was the main editor in the beginning, and soon enough the company was hiring more employees to do various "behind the scenes" jobs. Employees Erin and Joslyn also appeared on the 28th series of ''

The Amazing Race ''The Amazing Race'' is an adventure reality game show franchise in which teams of two people race around the world in competition with other teams. The ''Race'' is split into legs, with teams tasked to deduce clues, navigate themselves in forei ...

''.

was an online community that covered a variety of teenage-girl issues including life, love, sex, health, and friends. The website also included channels ''Crushable'', ''The Gloss'', ''The Grindstone'', ''Mommyish'' and ''Blisstree'', and was also part of the Clevver Network. On February 15, 2019, Hearst Magazines announced that it has purchased Clevver Media.

Smosh

Smosh was founded in 2005 by Ian Hecox and

Anthony Padilla Smosh is an American YouTube sketch comedy- improv collective founded by Anthony Padilla and Ian Hecox. In 2002, Padilla created a website named "smosh.com" for making Flash animations, and he was later joined by Hecox. They began to post vide ...

and acquired by Alloy Digital in July 2011. The channel's core demographic is people ages 12–24. The SMOSH.com website measures 1.5 million visitors monthly. With shows like Every

lank Lank may refer to: * Lank (surname) * Lank, Cornwall, a hamlet in Cornwall, United Kingdom * Lank Rigg, fell in the English Lake District See also * Lanc (disambiguation) Lanc may refer to: __NOTOC__ Organizations * National-Christian Defense L ...

Ever, The Big What If, and its sketches, Smosh was called ''the Saturday Night Live of the Internet'' by ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' in 2006. Smosh spin-off channels include Smosh Games, Smosh Pit, El Smosh, and the now defunct Shut Up! Cartoons. Smosh Games was launched as a spin-off of Smosh and relaunch of ClevverGames in September 2012. Hecox and Padilla teamed up with various online gamers to play games, provide reviews and updates, and share commentary. The channel contains gameplay videos and a gaming variation of

Screen Junkies Screen Junkies is an online movie magazine and YouTube channel, owned and operated by Fandom, that focuses primarily on movies and television. Screen Junkies produce numerous shows now spread across two YouTube channels, including ''The Screen J ...

' Honest Trailers called Honest Game Trailers. The YouTube channel achieved 1 million subscribers within three months of launching. It has gained more than 350 million video views. On November 12, 2018, the Smosh cast released a video announcing that production of Smosh, Smosh Pit, and Smosh Games content was still ongoing, and that existing videos would be finished and other content would be continued to be released independently by Smosh on their YouTube channels. They subsequently joined

after their company was purchased by

Rhett and Link Rhett James McLaughlin (born October 11, 1977) and Charles Lincoln "Link" Neal III (born June 1, 1978) are an American comedy duo. Self-styled as "Internetainers" (a portmanteau of "Internet" and "entertainers"), they are known for creating a ...

References

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Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

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AdWeek ''Adweek'' is a weekly American advertising trade publication that was first published in 1979. ''Adweek'' covers creativity, client–agency relationships, global advertising, accounts in review, and new campaigns. During this time, it has cover ...

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, first=Lev, last=Grossman , date=December 16, 2006 {{cite web , url=http://www.cartoonbrew.com/biz/smoosh-announces-youtube-animation-channel-shut-up-cartoons-60976.html , title=SMOSH! Announces YouTube Animation Channel, Shut Up! Cartoons , work=

Cartoon Brew Cartoon Brew is an animation news website created by Amid Amidi and animation historian Jerry Beck that was launched in 2004. Cartoon Dump It also created ''Cartoon Dump'', a weekly podcast showing poorly made TV cartoons featuring ''Mystery Sc ...

, first=Chris, last=Arrant , date=April 13, 2012 {{cite web , url=http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/xbox-spins-new-web-reality-show-144719 , title=Xbox Spins New Web Reality Show , work=

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AdAge An adage (; Latin: adagium) is a memorable and usually philosophical aphorism that communicates an important truth derived from experience, custom, or both, and that many people consider true and credible because of its longeval tradition, i.e. ...

, date=July 20, 2013 {{cite web , url=http://www.webmarketingassociation.org/iac/winner.asp?eid=8685 , title=Alloy Digital Wins 2012 Best Retail Integrated Ad Campaign, Best Of Show Integrated Ad Campaign Internet Advertising Award for Wendy, The Web Series , work=Web Marketing Association , year=2012 {{cite web , url=http://www.unileverusa.com/media-center/pressreleases/2012/TRESemmeUnveilsTRESemmeStyleSetters.aspx , title=TRESemmé® Unveils TRESemmé Style Setters; New Digital Series Launches with Actress Nikki Reed Taking Viewers Backstage at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week , work=

Unilever Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy drink, t ...

, date=March 12, 2012 {{cite web , url=http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/169857/tresemme-launches-multi-phase-digital-campaign.html#axzz2HUm6QB8y , title=TRESemme Launches Multi-Phase Digital Campaign , work=MediaPost , date=March 12, 2012 {{cite web , url=http://www.adweek.com/videowatch/miller64-debuts-web-series-featuring-pro-athletes-150065 , title=Miller64 Debuts Web Series Featuring Pro Athletes Alloy Digital/DBG's 'The Sub' features Terrell Owens, Gary Payton, others , work=

, first=David, last=Taintor , date=June 7, 2013 {{cite web , url=http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/alloy-digital-acquires-b5media-139733 , title=Alloy Digital Acquires B5Media Young adult media network doubles down on women's lifestyle content , work=

, first=Charlie, last=Warzel , date=April 20, 2012 {{cite web , url=https://variety.com/2012/digital/news/alloy-digital-buys-website-escapist-1118062277/ , title=Alloy Digital buys website Escapist , work=

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

, first=Marc, last=Graser , date=November 15, 2012 {{cite web , url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/dorothypomerantz/2013/01/25/smoshs-ian-and-anthony-are-a-new-purely-digital-breed-of-celebrity/ , title=Smosh's Ian And Anthony Are A New, Purely Digital, Breed Of Celebrity , work=

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Ad Age ''Ad Age'' (known as ''Advertising Age'' until 2017) is a global media brand that publishes news, analysis, and data on marketing and media. Its namesake magazine was started as a broadsheet newspaper in Chicago in 1930. ''Ad Age'' appears in mul ...

, first=Jason, last=Del Rey , date=June 18, 2012 {{cite news , last1=Patel , first1=Sahil , title='We wanted people to know we were big': How Defy Media went from YouTube heavyweight to abrupt shutdown , url=https://digiday.com/media/defy-media-youtube-shutdown/ , access-date=January 5, 2019 , work=Digiday , date=November 13, 2018 Mass media companies of the United States Multi-channel networks Entertainment companies based in New York City Companies based in New York City