BuzzFeed Struggles to Sell Owner of Hit YouTube Show ‘Hot Ones’

For the producers of Hot Ones, one of the most popular original programs on YouTube, this year has yielded one success after another.

The show, in which host Sean Evans eats spicy chicken wings with celebrities while interviewing them, has landed viral moments with Conan O’Brien, Sydney Sweeney, Lewis Hamilton and John Oliver. While celebrities once needed to be talked into appearing on the show, they now line up for a chance to sample the wings of death.

Yet behind the scenes, the future of the show is uncertain. BuzzFeed Inc. has been trying to sell ...