# Zig Media

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**Zig Media** is a mobile-media technology company based in [Brooklyn, New York](/source/Brooklyn,_New_York) owned by Billboard-Hollywood Reporter.[1][2][3][4] Called an "[Instagram](/source/Instagram) of news" by [The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times), the company's platform distills original and sourced content into images and video, then distributes it through mobile phone and desktop computer applications.[2][5][6] [Fast Company](/source/Fast_Company_(magazine)) reported that Zig had 400,000 users as of June 2018 following investment from Graydon Carter, [Ronald Meyer](/source/Ronald_Meyer), Quincy Jones, and [LiveNation](/source/LiveNation).[7]

## History

In 2016, cofounders Joshua James and Adam Platzner approached *[Vanity Fair](/source/Vanity_Fair_(magazine))* editor Graydon Carter to offer a modern, visual solution to changing magazine tastes and consumer news consumption.[2][8] The *New York Times* reported that "at the time, Mr. Carter was mulling the state of news; he recalled an assistant pointing out to him that millennials ‘think in more visual terms, than in textual terms.’" With cofounder John Tornow, James and Platzner built an [algorithm](/source/Algorithm) that captures personalized consumer data from [social media](/source/Social_media) preferences. The technology feeds news articles in the form of picture-heavy content back to each consumer according to their tastes.[9]

Zig’s iOS application launched in January 2018. Reported by *[Billboard](/source/Billboard_(magazine))*, first investors included [Graydon Carter](/source/Graydon_Carter), Ron Meyer, and Quincy Jones. In May 2018 *[NBC News](/source/NBC_News)* reported additional funding of $1.6 million from Alan Docter, [Aviv Nevo](/source/Aviv_Nevo), and LiveNation.[10] In October 2018 The Hollywood Reporter wrote that Valence Media, part of [Eldridge Industries](/source/Eldridge_Industries), invested in Zig.[11] In 2019, The Hollywood Reporter-Billboard acquired Zig Media.[1]

## Technology

Users sign up for the Zig app or use Zig distribution channels to provide personalized media-consumption preferences to the platform’s algorithm.[12] The platform returns media in a visual format based on the user’s personalized preferences and tailors each [news feed](/source/News_feed) over time based on additional consumer data.[13] The technology tracks stories that users skip and click to optimize the news feed for each user.[14]

In 2018, *Fast Company* compared Zig to [Apple News](/source/Apple_News) and [Flipboard](/source/Flipboard) with "more images and more personalization."[7] CNBC explained that Zig "emphasizes photos over text" and reduces the time that consumers use to peruse the internet for news.[4]

## References

1. ["Billboard-Hollywood Reporter Group Acquires News App Zig"](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/billboard-hollywood-reporter-group-acquires-news-app-zig-1217428). *The Hollywood Reporter*. 11 June 2019. Retrieved 12 June 2019.

1. Grynbaum, Michael M. (15 January 2018). ["Graydon Carter, Ex-Editor of Vanity Fair, Invests in an App"](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/14/business/media/graydon-carter-vanity-fair-app-zig.html). *The New York Times*. Retrieved 30 September 2018.

1. ["Live Nation, Graydon Carter, Quincy Jones and Ronald Meyer Invest in News Feed for Millennials: Zig"](https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/8097628/zig-media-live-nation-graydon-carter-quincy-jones-ron-meyer-investors). *Billboard*. Retrieved 30 September 2018.

1. ["Social media entrepreneurs with big-name backers hope to change the way people read news"](https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/16/social-media-entrepreneurs-hope-to-change-the-way-people-read-news.html). CNBC. 16 January 2018. Retrieved 30 September 2018.

1. ["Start-up Zig Media seeks to shake up your pop culture news feed"](https://www.cnbc.com/video/2018/01/16/start-up-zig-media-seeks-to-shake-up-your-pop-culture-news-feed.html). CNBC. 16 January 2018. Retrieved 30 September 2018.

1. ["ZIG Media: The "Instagram" of News"](https://web.archive.org/web/20181014204258/https://cheddar.com/videos/zig-media-the-instagram-of-news). Cheddar. Archived from [the original](https://cheddar.com/videos/zig-media-the-instagram-of-news) on 14 October 2018. Retrieved 14 October 2018.

1. ["Why are media veterans investing in this startup news app?"](https://www.fastcompany.com/40582657/why-are-old-media-veterans-investing-in-this-small-news-app). *Fast Company*. Retrieved 30 September 2018.

1. ["He told Bozoma Saint John to work for Uber. "Of course, I hung up on him.""](https://www.fastcompany.com/90266447/he-told-bozoma-saint-john-to-work-for-uber-of-course-i-hung-up-on-him). *Fast Company*. Retrieved 29 November 2018.

1. ["Media Trends: The "Instagram for news" expands"](https://www.axios.com/newsletters/axios-media-trends-65051e71-5f26-453b-b958-8fb9077ee6ee.html#story9). Axios. Retrieved 30 September 2018.

1. ["What's Graydon Carter up to? Meet Zig, a media app that just raised $1.6 million"](https://www.nbcnews.com/card/what-s-graydon-carter-meet-zig-media-app-just-raised-n874466). NBC News. Retrieved 30 September 2018.

1. ["Valence Media Invests in News App Zig"](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/valence-media-invests-news-app-zig-1150458). *The Hollywood Reporter*. 9 October 2018. Retrieved 9 October 2018.

1. ["Graydon Carter backed media platform Zig launches"](https://cheddar.com/videos/graydon-carter-backed-media-platform-zig-launches). Cheddar. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20180203122030/https://cheddar.com/videos/graydon-carter-backed-media-platform-zig-launches) 2018-02-03 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 30 September 2018.

1. ["New Mobile Platform ZIG Delivers Customized Content"](https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/312955/new-mobile-platform-zig-delivers-customized-conten.html). Media Post. Retrieved 30 September 2018.

1. Colt, Josie (February 3, 2018). ["Can't Get Your News From Facebook Anymore? Try These 6 Apps"](https://www.wired.com/story/news-apps-to-replace-facebooks-news-feed/). *WIRED*. Retrieved 2018-11-21.

## External links

- [Official website](https://zig.com/)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Zig Media](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zig_Media) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zig_Media?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.