ATTN:

ATTN: is a media company based in Los Angeles, California. As of October 2016, the company receives more than 2 billion monthly impressions and over 400 million monthly video views, primarily on social media platforms like Facebook.^[1]

ATTN: was founded in 2014 by Matthew Segal and Jarrett Moreno. According to the company, their mission is to inform people to make a social impact and “engender greater participation in communities, the political process and the world around us.” The New York Times called ATTN:, “particularly skilled at translating complicated issues into short, cogent content.”^[2]

History

Prior to founding ATTN:, Matthew Segal and Jarrett Moreno started Ourtime.org, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting voter registration among young people.

Funding

In November 2014, Segal and Moreno founded ATTN: in Los Angeles and raised $4.1 million from several investors including Marc Rowan, RTS Ventures, Ross Levinsohn, Hope Taitz, The Seacrest Global Group and Troy Carter.^[3]

In February 2016, ATTN: raised $18 million is a Series B led by Evolution Media Partners that also included Main Street Advisors.^[4]

Comedian and political commentator Bill Maher is also an investor and has stated that, “in 90-second videos, ATTN:’s getting young people to care about things that actually matter,” and has also called ATTN: the next Huffington Post.^[2][1]

In November 2016, ATTN: and Tribune Media announced a strategic distribution partnership that also included an investment by Tribune in ATTN:.^[5]

ATTN: describes its content as issue-driven. Their videos focus primarily on subjects like social justice, the environment, politics, health, criminal justice reform, immigration and drug policy.^[6] The company consists of an editorial team of writers and journalists that contribute articles and opinion to the website as well as an in-house production and animation studio that produces original video content primarily for social distribution, but more recently also for streaming services such as Apple Music, HBO Go and Spotify.^[7][8][9] The company’s Co-Founders and investors have also expressed an interest in creating original content for linear TV.^[10]

Formats

ATTN:’s most popular videos are custom made for consumption on Facebook: short, viral videos with subtitles for viewing without sound. Within this format, they have found particular success with a series they call America Versus. “Between January and October [2016], the show, which compares various U.S. policies to those in other nations, averaged four-and-a-half times as many views as the median Facebook video,” according to Digiday.^[11]

They also do original live-action videos like this particularly viral one on parental leave that stars Nev Schulman, the host of MTV’s Catfish, and his fiance Laura Perlongo.^[12] Co-Founder Matthew Segal also interviews celebrities, politicians and activists for two formats the company have dubbed ATTN: Exclusives and ATTN: Talk.

Animation has also been a successful format for the company who, from day one, have had an in-house team of animators in their LA offices. They use animation for videos that breakdown complex political issues like gerrymandering, comprehensive immigration reform and the Electoral College.^[1]

According to Business Insider ATTN: was receiving the highest average views per video of any media property including Buzzfeed, Unilad and Jukin Media, as of November 2016.^[10]

References