It's now clear that CNN didn't have a clear idea of what it wanted from Neistat when it purchased Beme, apart from some sort of digital news brand aimed at millennials. Neistat couldn't deliver. "I couldn't find answers. I would sort of disappear, and I would hide, and I would make YouTube videos for my channel because at least I would be able yield something," he told Buzzfeed in an interview. "I don't think I'm giving CNN what I want to give them, and I don't think they're getting value from me."

The Beme team was working on a live news app called "Wire," and CNN will continue to develop and support it. Some employees will be rehoused in other parts of CNN; others will be let go. It doesn't bode well for CNN's digital operations, which has struggled as of late. The company killed its daily Snapchat show just four months after launch back in December.