Vice Media and A+E Networks partner on new Viceland TV channel
Youth media brand and digital content studio Vice Media has formed a joint venture with A+E Networks to launch a new TV channel, provisionally titled Viceland, early next year.
The move will complete Vice’s ‘trinity of screens’ by augmenting its existing mobile and digital output with television, exchanging content, advertisers and audiences between the three.
A+E Networks existing H2 channel will transition to the new initiative which will take the form of a rolling 24 hour station programmed and produced entirely in-house by Vice and distributed to around 70m homes.
Nancy Dubuc, president and chief executive of A+E Networks said, “Vice has a bold voice and a distinctive model in the marketplace. This channel represents a strategic fit and a new direction for the future of our portfolio of media assets. Shane Smith has led Vice from a fledgling magazine into a global media brand and all of us at A+E are excited to work with him and his passionate and innovative team.”
Vice partner Spike Jonze added: “It feels like most channels are just a collection of shows. We wanted Viceland to be different, to feel like everything on there has a reason to exist and a strong point of view. Our mission with the channel is not that different from what our mission is as a company: it’s us trying to understand the world we live in by producing pieces about things we’re curious about, or confused about, or that we think are funny. And if it doesn't have a strong point of view then it shouldn't be on this channel.”
Viceland launches with a suite of prime-time shows, including Gaycation (with Ellen Page and Ian Daniel), Huang’s World (with Eddie Huang), Noisey (with Zach Goldbaum), Vice World Of Sports (with Sal Masekela), Black Market (with Michael K. Williams), Flophouse, Party Legends and Weediquette (with Krishna Andavolu).