• by Sara Guaglione , May 12, 2017

Group Nine announced expansions to its four brands Thrillist, NowThis, The Dodo and Seeker at its NewFront presentation Thursday, which also served as its official launch party.

Back in October, Thrillist Media Group, NowThis Media, The Dodo and Discovery’s digital network Seeker — as well as its production studio SourceFed Studios — merged to form new media company Group Nine.

The millennial-focused Group Nine Media has a combined 4 billion monthly video views.

NowThis announced it will launch a sports vertical this fall. It is currently looking for a flagship launch partner. NowThis Sportswill partner with TV sports network EuroSport, the European home for the Olympics 2018-2024, as an official content partner in Europe.

It has also hired former Vice and CNN correspondent Kaj Larsen to produce a series on the intersection of sports and politics.

NowThis is currently developing 20 different original video series, including “Her Stories,” a 10-episode program profiling women breaking boundaries.

The Dodo will launch a new sub-brand for kids called Little Dodo, focused on animal content for preschool-aged children. The Dodo also has two new shows coming out this year: “Animal Heroes” and “Best (Dog) Day Ever.”

At the end of 2017, The Dodo will start producing virtual-reality programming, starting with “Animal Eye View,” a series from an animal’s perspective.

Seeker will also dive into VR with three new series: space-focused “The Edge,” festival-focused “Ceremonies” and a partnership with VR studio Solfar and RVX on “Everest VR.”

Thrillist will launch numerous video series as well, including “Food/Groups,” a weekly YouTube series about how food ties modern communities together, and “War & Pizza,” a pizza-making competition series.

Group Nine has also announced its first commercial deal, a video content creation and distribution offering for DigitasLBi clients. It allows brands to turn existing content assets into snackable video to be distributed across Group Nine’s social channels.

Group Nine has said it is planning to hire 100 to 200 people by the end of the year, including in Thrillist's editorial department.