For those that don’t know Cheddar was a channel that posted around ten minute videos answering questions you probably didn’t think to ask. For example some of their most popular videos are about why the US doesn’t like roundabouts, why sitcoms stopped using laugh tracks, and why 3D logos fell out of style so quickly.
In the past week they’ve started posting significantly more frequently but it has all been traditional news style videos.
I decide to look it up and came across this Variety post about it:
Cheddar, founded in early 2016, was acquired by cable operator Altice USA in 2019 for $200 million. Last Thursday Dec. 28, Altice USA said it sold Cheddar to Archetype, a media company owned by private-equity firm Regent, for undisclosed terms.
On Jan. 2, Cheddar employees received an email informing them that they were to suspend work immediately, per the Times. “We would like to have given you more notice of this action, but the decision was necessitated by unforeseen internal and external factors that required rapid adjustments in our business strategy,” the message said.
It seems like they are motivated to redirect the channel into something new.
If you are looking for similar channels that answer questions you didn’t ask (or couldn’t be bothered to find answers for) I’d recommend checking out one of the following channels.
Vox has some videos like Why we all need subtitles now and UV lights kill viruses. Why aren’t they everywhere? some of their other videos have a bit to do with politics.
Half As Interesting is good if you are looking for something similar but with a bit of added humor.
Casual Navigation is also pretty neat if you have an interest in ships or sailing. Similarly there’s also Practical Engineering. It’s more about infrastructure.
Can you think of any other educational channels that cover things you might not have thought to ask?
- I’ll try to add links to the channels above and the Cheddar videos I mentioned later today