Morgan Hertzan and Joseph Varet get the Wall Street Journal pixelated art treatment today with a well-timed article announcing their video endeavor’s name change: From CODE.tv to LX.tv. That’s “LX,” for “lifestyle” — though it’s going to take some heavy marketing to convince us as much. We’ve talked about Hertzan and Varet long before they received any attention from “models and bottles” A.J., but with some MSNBC spots in the can and the smarts to capitalize on the attention (and Advocate coverboy and former shirtless bartender Pedro Andrade), the rebranding is a go. Which means plenty of SuChin Pak (of MTV fame) leading the likes of George Oliphant through the world of broadband video. And while we’re certainly just revving to check out those Absolut sponsored cocktail mixing segments, most of our online video consumption will still belong to DudeTube.

When it comes to finding out whether the new lounge at the Gramercy Park Hotel is open yet (it is) or whether the Cain Estate in the Hamptons is really worth checking out before summer’s end (likely not), there are plenty of places to turn to. There’s layman stalwart Shecky’s, trying-to-be-trendy Thrillist, and hipper-than-thou UrbanDaddy. But with a broadband Internet connection, some may approach approach online culture guides the way they do porn: still images just aren’t doing it for ’em anymore. Enter video — and enter CODE.TV.

Launched publicly a mere two months ago, Code’s flagship New York edition is already flanked by Hamptons coverage and, as of last week, a full-blown Los Angeles edition (which the publicity team at Freud managed to get The Hollywood Reporter to weigh in on). Its editorial mix is nothing but glowing praise of whatever is being covered, from Pink Elephant’s reincarnation to Knife + Fork’s East Village Euro offerings. And given that Code bills itself as “the first television network for wealthy 25-49 year old urbanites … who want and can afford a red-carpet style lifestyle,” we had to know more — so we sat down for a Soho House lunch with founders Joseph Varet and Morgan Hertzan for a little chat on how they plan to become the DailyCandy of their space. Which might be hard, given that they’re in DailyCandy’s space.

CONTINUED »