by Trusted Media Brands
Acquired2 known investors
Jukin Media, now part of Trusted Media Brands, licenses user-generated viral video and operates brands such as FailArmy and The Pet Collective.
Also known as Jukin Media · Jukin Media, Inc. · Jukin Video
Investors · 2
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Jukin Media is a Los Angeles-based digital entertainment company that sources, licenses and distributes user-generated video. It maintains a library of more than 70,000 licensed clips spanning viral stunts, pranks and mishaps, which it licenses to advertisers, TV programmers, film producers and digital publishers. Alongside licensing, Jukin produces original content for television, the web and emerging platforms and owns and operates a portfolio of digital video properties including FailArmy, People Are Awesome, The Pet Collective and WeatherSpy.
In August 2021 Jukin was acquired by Trusted Media Brands, the New York-headquartered lifestyle media and publishing company formerly known as the Reader's Digest Association, whose brands include Reader's Digest, Taste of Home, The Family Handyman, Birds & Blooms, Reminisce and Country. The combined group positioned Jukin's social video, video production and streaming-TV capabilities alongside Trusted Media Brands' magazine and digital brands and first-party data platform, with plans to launch over-the-top channels for Taste of Home and Family Handyman and add ecommerce to the Pet Collective and FailArmy properties. Following the deal Jukin remained based in Los Angeles, led by co-chief executives Jonathan Skogmo and Lee Essner, and is listed as a business division of Trusted Media Brands.
Founding story
Founder and CEO Jonathan Skogmo built the business on the premise that the future of storytelling is user generated, growing it mostly organically over a decade before concluding that reaching the next level of growth required scale through a combination with a larger media owner.
Business model
Jukin identifies videos with viral potential, negotiates licensing agreements with the original creators, and then licenses that content to advertisers, TV shows, film productions and digital publishers. It complements this rights-based licensing business with owned-and-operated digital video brands and original production distributed across social media, the web and streaming TV.
Revenue derives from licensing user-generated clips for advertising campaigns and TV and digital properties, from advertising against its owned social and streaming video brands, and from original content production. In 2020 the company licensed more than 2,000 clips for ad campaigns and for use on TV and digital properties in nearly 100 countries.
Traction
At the time of the 2021 acquisition, Jukin's properties reached more than 220 million viewers online, generated more than 2 billion minutes of social video viewing per month and more than 11 million hours viewed monthly on streaming TV platforms. The company employed about 270-300 people worldwide. Its "Pizza Rat" clip, a 2015 internet sensation, was licensed to more than 80 TV, film and advertising entities.
Latest developments
In May 2025, Trusted Media Brands appointed Stephen Colvin as CEO, succeeding Bonnie Kintzer, who retired after 11 years; Colvin oversees content strategy across brands including Taste of Home, The Pet Collective, Family Handyman, FailArmy and Reader's Digest.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
Jukin became a leading source for TV programmers and advertisers seeking to tap social media trends over the 2010s, with properties reaching more than 220 million people online. Its parent Trusted Media Brands identified digital-first publishers such as BuzzFeed and Group Nine Media as its principal competitors in the digital space.
Jukin combines a large catalogue of cleared, rights-managed user-generated clips with proprietary viral-detection software and its own distribution network of social and streaming video brands, giving licensees both content and reach.
Technology
The company uses proprietary software to identify videos that may go viral before securing licensing agreements with the creators.
Go-to-market
Direct licensing sales to advertisers, agencies, broadcasters and digital publishers, paired with audience distribution through owned social channels and free ad-supported streaming TV platforms.
Advertisers and brands, TV programmers and networks, film and digital publishers seeking viral or user-generated footage, plus consumer audiences for its FailArmy, People Are Awesome, The Pet Collective and WeatherSpy channels.
Geography
Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, with a worldwide workforce; clips were licensed for use in nearly 100 countries in 2020. Parent Trusted Media Brands is co-headquartered in New York City and White Plains, New York, with international operations and licenses in more than 30 countries.
History
Jukin Media was founded in 2009 by Jonathan Skogmo (one directory lists a 2010 founding date) and grew largely organically, raising about $6 million from investors including Samsung Ventures, BDMI, Third Wave Digital and Mandalay Entertainment chairman Peter Guber. It built a licensing business around viral clips and launched digital brands including FailArmy, People Are Awesome, The Pet Collective and WeatherSpy. Trusted Media Brands CEO Bonnie Kintzer first met the Jukin team in January 2021, and the all-cash acquisition was announced on August 12, 2021.
Risks & controversies
The parent company's predecessor, the Reader's Digest Association, filed for bankruptcy protection in 2009 and again in 2012, emerging in 2013, and is majority-owned by hedge fund GoldenTree Asset Management.
Compiled by commissioned research from 6 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Timeline · 3
launches, deals, and filingsTrusted Media Brands appointed Stephen Colvin, CEO of Nivloc Media and a former Bloomberg Media executive, as CEO, succeeding Bonnie Kintzer, who retired after 11 years. Colvin oversees content strategy for brands including Taste of Home, The Pet Collective, Family Handyman, FailArmy and Reader's Digest.
Trusted Media Brands, parent of Reader's Digest, acquired user-generated video licensing company Jukin Media. Terms were not disclosed; Forbes reported the deal valued Jukin at more than $100 million. Jukin's roughly 270-300 employees were integrated with Trusted Media Brands' 400 staff, with operations remaining in Los Angeles under co-CEOs Jonathan Skogmo and Lee Essner. Trusted Media Brands was advised by Progress Partners and represented by Latham & Watkins; Jukin Media was represented by Paul Hastings with Houlihan Lokey as exclusive financial adviser.
$100M source ↗
Following the acquisition, Trusted Media Brands said it planned to work with Jukin to launch over-the-top channels for Taste of Home and Family Handyman, and to add ecommerce components to Jukin's Pet Collective and FailArmy sites.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
▸Research sources · 6
primary sources listed
6 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does by Trusted Media Brands do?
- Jukin Media, now part of Trusted Media Brands, licenses user-generated viral video and operates brands such as FailArmy and The Pet Collective.
- Who are by Trusted Media Brands's investors?
- by Trusted Media Brands's investors include Karlin Ventures, Kombo Ventures.