Viceland

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For the country-specific entities, see
Viceland (Canada), and SBS Viceland
.

Viceland / Vice TV

Viceland (stylized in all caps), and Vice TV in the United States, are brands used for television channels owned and programmed by

Rogers Media
.

Operating under the creative direction of film director

millennials, with new original series, along with adaptations of and reruns of existing Vice web series. Some of the network's launch programs were hosted by existing Vice personalities such as Action Bronson and Thomas Morton, as well as notable figures such as Eddie Huang, Elliot Page, and Lance Bangs
.

On May 15, 2023, Vice Media formally filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, as part of a possible sale to a consortium of lenders including Fortress Investment Group, which will, alongside Soros Fund Management and Monroe Capital, invest $225 million as a credit bid for nearly all of its assets.[1]

Overview

Precursors

Vice's first foray into television was

millennial-focused service drawing from its own content. However, the deal fell through due to concerns regarding editorial control.[5][6][7]

On August 29, 2014,

City introduced Vice on City—an anthology series featuring short-form content produced by Vice's Canadian outlets and reporters.[12] The Vice company had previously moved from Montreal to New York City due to difficulties in reaching a sufficient scale in Canada at the time. The company believed that Rogers' investment in Vice helped to better achieve these goals.[13]

Programming

Main article: List of programs broadcast by Vice

Viceland's programming consists primarily of lifestyle-oriented documentaries and reality series aimed towards

millennials, directed in Vice's trademark style of "character-driven documentaries".[9][14] Creative director Spike Jonze stated that his goal for Viceland was to make its lineup have "a reason to exist and a strong point of view", rather than be just a "collection of shows". Jonze explained that Viceland would continue to reflect Vice's core mission of "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."[5] Vice co-founder and CEO Shane Smith stated that the channel's main goal was "trying not to be shitty".[14] Viceland originally focused primarily on lifestyle content; in the U.S., Vice News content (including its series Vice News Tonight) would remain largely exclusive to Vice's existing joint venture with HBO.[14] Jonze stated that unlike the HBO content, Viceland would be "far from objective [reporting]".[15]

Vice Media plans to enter into similar partnerships in international markets to further expand Viceland.

Hearst Corporation, made a second 10% investment of $200 million in Vice Media to support the production of new programming.[17]

Thirty different programs were developed for Viceland, including original series and expanded versions of existing Vice's web series.

States of Undress— a series focusing on fashion weeks around the world,[22] the music documentary series Noisey, Vice World of Sports, and Weediquette— which focuses on the mainstream cannabis culture and industry.[5][23][24] Blocks of existing short-form content from Vice (Vice Lab) are also featured,[25] along with other, acquired content— such as Friday-night airings of cult films accompanied by Vice Guide to Film documentaries on their directors.[14][15] Ten of the thirty original programs planned were produced in Canada, including Cyberwar— which focuses on cyberterrorism, and Dead Set on Life— an expansion of Matty Matheson's food-oriented web series Keep It Canada.[16]

A month after Viceland's initial launch, the U.S. version of the network announced a second slate of shows, including

Traveling the Stars: Action Bronson and Friends Watch 'Ancient Aliens'—a series in which Action Bronson watches episodes of Ancient Aliens with guests whilst smoking marijuana,[26] Black Market— a series in which Michael K. Williams explores underground economies around the world, the U.S. premieres of Cyberwar and Dead Set on Life,[27] Party Legends— a show about re-enactments of entertaining party stories,[28] WOMAN— a series in which Gloria Steinam features the lives of different women around the world,[29] and VICE Does America— which Abdullah Saeed and two Vice co-workers explore forgotten places of the world.[28] In October 2016, the network launched a late-night talk show, Desus & Mero, hosted by Desus Nice and The Kid Mero.[30] The program ran through June 2018, when it was cancelled after the duo signed with Showtime to host a rebooted version (which premiered in early-2019).[31]

In 2019, Viceland began to pivot its U.S. operations to include a larger focus on news programming: on February 29, the network launched Vice Live—a two-hour "variety show" aired Monday–Thursday nights from Vice's Brooklyn headquarters, which featured coverage of the day's trends, reports from Vice's international bureaus, guest appearances, as well as other freeform content. The show was cancelled on April 15.[32][33] That month, Viceland also premiered Dark Side of the Ring, a documentary series on controversial events in professional wrestling.[34] The series would become Viceland's highest-rated premiere, and was renewed for a second season.[34] After HBO ended its partnership with Vice News, Vice News Tonight was subsequently picked up by Viceland.[35] In February 2020, in the lead-up to the program's re-launch, the U.S. network was quietly renamed Vice TV.[36]

Versions

In June 2016, Shane Smith announced at the

Telenet (Belgium).[39]

Vice holds a 49% minority stake and control of international expansions,[14] except for Australia where the channel is 100% owned and operated by SBS.

North America

Prior to launch day, Vice ran newspaper ads for Viceland, containing only the network's name and a phone number that, when called, invited viewers to contribute answers to questions. Pre-launch programming for Viceland began on February 29, 2016, at 5:00 a.m. ET in Canada (with Bar Talk, a one-hour special hosted by Vice Canada's head of content Patrick McGuire

voice mail. The first program following the countdown was the series premiere of Noisey, following hip-hop musician Kendrick Lamar.[16][41][15][23][42][43]

United States

Main article: Vice TV

The American version is operated by a joint venture with A&E Networks, (itself a stake owner of Vice Media) and originally replaced H2.

Canada

Main article:
Viceland (Canada)

A

V Media Group to create a channel in French Canada.[44] To comply with Canadian content regulations, it also produced some of its own programming (sourced primarily from a Toronto studio it co-founded with Rogers); Vice co-founder Suroosh Alvi
stated the programs were being produced

Viceland would view its Canadian productions as being of global interest, as opposed to a regulatory obligation of little interest of non-Canadians; one-third of the network's first slate of original programming are Canadian productions from the new facility.[9]

In November 2017, Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail reported that Rogers intended to cease providing funding to Viceland in early 2018, citing inside reports of low viewership and unprofitability. Representatives of both companies declined to comment.[45] On January 22, 2018, Rogers and Vice jointly announced a termination of their partnership, with the Viceland channel discontinued on March 31, 2018. Vice inherited complete ownership of the Toronto production studio and the original content produced for the channel as the Vice website will stream Viceland's programming in Canada.[46] Plans for a French-language channel were also dropped; V Media Group will feature Vice content in French on its channels.[47]

On August 16, 2018, Vice announced a new long-term output deal with Bell Media, with its programming being aired by Bell platforms such as Crave and Much.[48]

United Kingdom and Ireland

On March 9, 2016, Vice Media announced that it would launch Viceland in the United Kingdom in September 2016 as part of a partnership with

Now TV services, access to Vice apps on Sky Q set-top boxes, and timed exclusivity for video-on-demand/Sky Go access. Sky will handle advertising sales for the channel which is available in Ireland.[49][50]

Low ratings were reported of the British and Irish version, where some programs premiered to viewership so low that they failed to register ratings. A Sky representative defended the channel, noting the steady growth and accolades of the U.S. network.[51]

On July 17, 2017, Viceland launched a block of

W HD prior to the UKTV
channels' removals, until the network was restored on August 11, 2018. The channel was removed from Virgin Media on July 20, 2020.

The channel closed on May 1, 2021.[54]

Netherlands and Belgium

Viceland started broadcasting in the

T-Mobile Thuis, another national operator.[57]
Viceland Nederland produces a few Dutch productions and was in the beginning of its existence in the news for having a documentary with Geert Wilders.

In Belgium, Viceland Vlaanderen started with Telenet, the Flemish cableprovider majority owned by Liberty Global on March 1, 2017.[58] Viceland Belgique, a French-speaking Belgian version of Viceland started on June 1, 2017, together with the launch of the Dutch version on the national IPTV provider Proximus.[59][60] In October 2017 also VOO (operator for French speaking Belgium) and provider Orange started distributing Viceland [61] giving Viceland national distribution in Belgium.

In the Netherlands and Flanders, the television channel was renamed to Vice TV on November 1, 2019.[62]

Vice TV ceased existing in the Netherlands and Flanders on August 24, 2020.[63]

Australia

Main article: SBS Viceland

On November 15, 2016, Australian public broadcaster Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) re-launched its SBS2 channel as SBS Viceland. The re-branded channel initially featured Viceland's programming and other newly commissioned content, alongside original news, entertainment, and sports programming carried over from its previous branding.[64] However, within a few years the channel included very little Vice programming.

Southeast Asia

A Viceland programming block is aired on Outdoor Channel since August 2016.[65]

Africa

In April 2022, eMedia Investments unveiled eXposed which supplements most of its content from Vice TV as part of an agreement with the brand.[66]

References

  1. ^ Whittock, Jesse (May 15, 2023). "Vice Media Files For Chapter 11 Bankruptcy". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 15, 2023.
  2. ^ Levine, Robert (November 19, 2007). "A Guerrilla Video Site Meets MTV". The New York Times. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
  3. ^ Hale, Mike (February 28, 2016). "Viceland, a New Cable Channel, Aims to Stand Out". The New York Times. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
  4. ^ Goodman, Tim. "Vice brings its brand of provocative, let's-go-find-danger journalism to HBO as a half-hour newsmagazine". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 4, 2013.
  5. ^ a b c "It's Official: Vice Channel to Take Over A+E Networks' History Spinoff H2". The Hollywood Reporter. November 3, 2015. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
  6. ^ "Can HLN Draw Millennials Fast Enough to Stave Off Vice?". Advertising Age. Retrieved August 29, 2014.
  7. ^ Mahler, Jonathan (August 29, 2014). "Time Warner Ends Negotiations to Buy Stake in Vice Media". The New York Times. Retrieved August 29, 2014.
  8. ^ "A&E Networks Buying Minority Stake in Vice Media". August 29, 2014. Retrieved October 12, 2014.
  9. ^ a b c d "Viceland content will be made in Canada, for a global audience". Canadian Business. Rogers Media. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
  10. ^ "Rogers, Vice Media strike $100M deal to create Canadian content". CBC News. October 30, 2014. Retrieved October 30, 2014.
  11. ^ "Rogers, Vice Media to partner on $100-million venture". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. October 30, 2014. Retrieved October 30, 2014.
  12. ^ "Best of Vice Canada Debuts Tonight on City". Vice.com. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
  13. ^ a b "Vice Media to Launch Cable TV Channel in Canada". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
  14. ^ a b c d e f "Vice's Shane Smith Asks, "You Think I Could Hoodwink Bob Iger, Jeff Bewkes and Rupert Murdoch?"". The Hollywood Reporter. February 3, 2016. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
  15. ^ a b c d "Spike Jonze on new TV channel Viceland: Where the wild shows are". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
  16. ^ a b c d "How a little magazine called Vice conquered the media world: Welcome to Viceland". Montreal Gazette. Postmedia. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
  17. ^ Ember, Sydney (December 8, 2015). "Disney Invests $200 Million More in Vice Media to Support New Programming". New York Times. Retrieved December 23, 2015.
  18. ^ "Viceland's Flophouse trailer explores the on- and offstage lives of comedians". The A.V. Club. February 4, 2016. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
  19. ^ "Action Bronson". Pitchfork Media. May 6, 2014. Retrieved March 28, 2015.
  20. ^ "Take a Visual 'Gaycation' with Ian Daniel – Format Magazine".
  21. ^ "April Premiere Dates For New And Returning TV Shows | hide.me". April 5, 2016. Retrieved August 26, 2016.
  22. ^ Garced, Kristi (March 30, 2016). "Hailey Gates Talks New Docuseries, 'States of Undress'". Retrieved August 27, 2016.
  23. ^ a b "Here's How Viceland Plans to Lure Millennials Back to TV". Adweek. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
  24. ^ "Action Bronson Eats His Way Across America in "Fuck, That's Delicious" Season Premiere". Pitchfork. Conde Nast. February 25, 2016. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
  25. ^ "What Is Viceland? One Millennial's Underwhelming Morning Watching The Hippest Network On Cable TV". International Business Times. March 2016. Retrieved March 2, 2016.
  26. ^ Capossela, Francesca (August 3, 2016). "How Action Bronson Ended Up Getting High and Watching 'Ancient Aliens'". Vice. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
  27. ^ Prudom, Laura (May 13, 2016). "Viceland Renews Five Shows, Including Ellen Page's 'Gaycation,' Picks Up Five More". Retrieved August 26, 2016.
  28. ^ a b Pedersen, Erik (May 9, 2016). "Summer Premiere & Return Dates: 2016 Edition". Retrieved August 27, 2016.
  29. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved August 26, 2016.
  30. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved May 30, 2020.
  31. ^ Petski, Denise (November 29, 2018). "'Desus & Mero' Late-Night Show Gets February Premiere Date On Showtime". Deadline. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
  32. ^ Bennett, Anita (April 16, 2019). "Viceland To End Nightly Series 'Vice Live' Weeks After Show's Premiere". Deadline. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
  33. ^ Petski, Denise (January 17, 2019). "Viceland Sets Nightly Live Two-Hour Variety Show". Deadline. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
  34. ^ a b White, Peter (July 23, 2019). "Viceland's Wrestling Docu-Series 'Dark Side of the Ring' Returns For A Second Run On The Mat – TCA". Deadline. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
  35. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (August 16, 2019). "'Vice News Tonight' Lands At Viceland Cable Network". Deadline. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
  36. ^ "An Expanded Vice News Tonight Will Air on Vice TV". Adweek. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
  37. ^ "Vice to launch edgy TV channel Viceland in Quebec, expand internationally". Montreal Gazette. Postmedia Network. Retrieved July 10, 2016.
  38. ^ "Vice Media's Viceland To Launch In More Than 50 New Countries". Deadline.com. June 22, 2016. Retrieved July 10, 2016.
  39. ^ a b "Televisiezender Viceland op 1 maart van start bij Ziggo". MediaMagazine. January 24, 2017.
  40. ^ "This Land is Your Land, This Land is Viceland: New Specialty Channel Launches with Distinctive Slate of Programming, Feb. 29". Rogers Media. February 16, 2016. Retrieved March 15, 2016.
  41. ^ "To Get People To Watch Viceland On TV, Vice Uses A Newspaper". Variety. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
  42. ^ "Viceland Makes Its Cable Debut". Multichannel News. February 29, 2016. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
  43. ^ "Vancouver rapper and filmmaker Jay Worthy helps viewers see Compton through the eyes of Kendrick Lamar". The Province. Postmedia. Retrieved March 4, 2016.
  44. Montreal Gazette
    . June 22, 2016. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
  45. ^ "Rogers to cut off support for Viceland TV station". The Globe and Mail. November 29, 2017. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
  46. ^ Vlessing, Ethan (January 22, 2018). "Viceland to Go Off the Air on Canada's Rogers Communications". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
  47. ^ "Vice Québec et Groupe V Média: où en est le partenariat?". Infopresse (in Canadian French). Retrieved January 25, 2018.
  48. ^ White, Peter (August 16, 2018). "Vice Is Back In Business In Canada After Striking Long-Term Deal With Bell Media". Deadline. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  49. ^ "Vice is launching a TV channel on Sky". Wired UK. Retrieved June 2, 2016.
  50. ^ "Viceland To Launch In UK On Pay TV Platform Sky". Deadline. March 9, 2016. Retrieved June 2, 2016.
  51. ISSN 0261-3077
    . Retrieved August 15, 2017.
  52. ^ "VICELAND Channel Announces Late-Night Anime Block".
  53. ^ "Vice on TV lands on BT platform". March 8, 2019.
  54. ^ Federica-C (April 8, 2021). "Vice closes on 30 April". Sky Community. Retrieved June 1, 2021. VICE (channel 183) will be removed from our Sky EPG (Electronic Program Guide) on Friday 30 April.
  55. ^ MediamagazineNL (March 1, 2017). "Televisiezender Viceland exclusief van start bij Ziggo". MediaMagazine.
  56. ^ MediamagazineNL (June 15, 2017). "Tv-zender VICELAND nu ook te zien bij aanbieder Caiway". MediaMagazine.
  57. ^ "MediaMagazine.nl". July 18, 2018.
  58. ^ "Nieuwe tv-zender VICELAND vanaf vandaag bij Telenet".
  59. ^ "Viceland: vanaf 1 juni, nieuw op Proximus TV". www.proximus.be.
  60. ^ "Viceland débarque sur Proximus TV !". www.proximus.be.
  61. ^ MediamagazineNL (October 25, 2017). "VICELAND in België ook te zien via aanbieders VOO en Orange". MediaMagazine.
  62. ^ MediamagazineNL (October 30, 2019). "Televisiezender Viceland gaat verder als VICEtv". MediaMagazine.
  63. ^ "VICE tv stopt per 24 augustus 2020 in Nederland en Vlaanderen". Nederlands MediaNieuws. Archived from the original on July 10, 2020. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
  64. ^ "SBS VICELAND to replace SBS 2 from Nov. 15". TV Tonight. October 4, 2016.
  65. ^ "Outdoor Channel Turns Viceland On Friday Nights".
  66. ^ "Vice Distribution Signs Content Deal with e.tv in Africa". May 11, 2022.
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