Dear Media Acquires Fitness Platform Obé Fitness
Obé Fitness co-founder Mark Mullett steps into a new executive role as Dear Media adds fitness into its growing lifestyle empire
Podcast and media company Dear Media has acquired fitness platform Obé Fitness, adding a fitness and wellness-driven dimension to its existing footprint in commerce and lifestyle content, Variety first reported.
The deal sees former Creative Artists Agency agent and Obé Fitness co-founder Mark Mullett joining Dear Media as president of global entertainment and business development. Co-founder Ashley Mills will stay on for a six-month transition period before exiting to launch a new venture focused on the intersection of wellness and education.
Founded in 2018, the celeb-favorite streaming fitness platform raised $15 million in a Series A round in 2021, which included notable backers such as WW International Inc., actress and comedian Tiffany Haddish, Cavu Venture Partners, Wheelhouse Entertainment and Harris Blitzer Sports Entertainment.
The media company is known for a slate of popular shows in categories spanning beauty, health and wellness, parenting, relationships, and true crime, with headliners like “Khloé in Wonderland ” featuring Khloé Kardashian and “Let’s Be Honest” with Kristin Cavallari.
“We continue to expand our owned and operated channels to drive deeper engagement while growing our slate of talent and IP through the creation and acquisition of new programming,” Dear Media CEO and founder Michael Bosstick told Variety. “We’re excited to partner with our talent to create more brand extensions across commerce, long-form content, events, publishing, and whatever else our audience has an appetite for, always with an eye toward our 360-approach of engaging a host’s audience across every platform where their content can be consumed. I’m looking forward to working with Mark to leverage Obé’s tech infrastructure and world-class tech team to create even more opportunities for our shows and audiences to engage.”
Mullett said the acquisition brings together two forward-thinking brands with shared ambitions.
“Dear Media and Obé have always operated ahead of the curve, and we could not be more thrilled to build upon an architecture that will continue to serve our insatiable audience during such an exciting time in the media & entertainment industry’s evolution,” he told the publication.
The sides confirm that Obé will operate as a standalone platform under the Dear Media umbrella.
“What started as a bold vision to make joyful movement accessible grew into something far beyond what we imagined,” Mills said in a statement to Variety. “As I support a seamless transition to Dear Media over the next six months, I’m building my next venture—at the intersection of wellness and education.”