NowThis has announced that creative executive, media strategist and producer, Michael Vito Valentino, has joined the company as editor in chief, effective immediately.
As editor in chief, Valentino is responsible for overseeing all creative, development and talent across NowThis properties. His deep understanding of social-driven culture will allow him to guide NowThis in a new direction and establish NowThis as the hub for Gen Z — empowering young voices, attitudes and opinions in creative and digital-first original series. His appointment comes after a trailblazing start to his career, establishing himself as an innovator in the entertainment industry, and paving the way for a reinvigorated NowThis platform with content curated toward both new and existing fanbases.
“The reason why we're keen on programming to young audiences is because the density of their social graphs with the network effects of those social spheres creates virality,” says Sharon Mussalli, CEO of NowThis. “61% of Gen Z, 41M Americans, is 18+ which makes up the majority of the critical 18-24 and 18-34 audience demos. By speaking directly to these 41M Americans we realize relevance and popularity with millennials via shares and social discovery. Michael's deep knowledge of this space will cement NowThis as the premier destination for culturally relevant social first content. We are excited to have him on board and can't wait to see the impact he will make.”
Valentino’s understanding of the ever-changing media landscape and the Gen Z demographic uniquely positions him to lead NowThis into its next chapter. With previous roles at both Fallen Media and MTV, Valentino changed the face of digital content, managing various short-form, social-driven series with over 50M viewers, such as Fallen’s “What’s Poppin and Street Hearts,” and MTV’s iconic franchises “20 Questions” and “Bop Quiz.” He has a proven track record for virality, amassing over 5B views in total throughout his career.
“NowThis understands that Gen Z is leading the creator economy and wants to take it one step further,” said Valentino. “We won’t just be working with creators, we’ll be developing them. We’ll do more than just keep up with our audience’s viewing habits, we’ll help shape them. It’s the same bite-sized content our followers are used to, with clarified and curated verticals. I’m beyond excited to share some of the incredible things we already have in the works.”
NowThis was launched in 2012 and quickly became the zeitgeisty news outlet of the decade. It’s always been a brand that innovates and changes based on audience viewing habits and this pivot will shift the storytelling format of the platform, while ensuring that the mission stays the same. At almost 25% of the population, Gen Z is fast-growing, diverse, holds strong values and is poised to become the highest consumer spending class in many regions by 2030 (Nielsen 2024). Positioning itself as the destination for Gen Z-oriented content, NowThis wants to disrupt and reshape social entertainment.
NowThis will be focused on original content ranging from pop culture to issue-oriented content. The company will also be building an in-house studio dedicated to creating digital original series, leveraging the legacy brand and its combined 74M+ followers to solidify NowThis as the first short-form network.
To stay up to date on the latest about NowThis, be sure to follow @nowthis on Instagram, YouTube and TikTok, and find us online at nowmedianetwork.co.
About NowThis:
NowThis…is GenZTV. We’re transforming scrolling to tuning in, by reinventing destination viewing through bingeable, social-first content that meets our audiences on the platforms where they live.
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