A+E Networks & VICE to Launch TV Network

NEW YORK: Through a new partnership with VICE Media, A+E Networks’ channel H2 will be transitioned to VICELAND (working title), with the new 24-hour network set to launch in early 2016.

VICELAND will be distributed in approximately 70 million homes, and will feature hundreds of hours of new programming developed and produced in-house by VICE. Oscar-winning writer/director Spike Jonze, a long-time VICE partner and creative director for the company, has been overseeing the development of the new channel, from show creation to production to brand identity.

The channel will launch with a full slate 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, Weediquette (with Krishna Andavolu) and more.

Nancy Dubuc, president and CEO 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.”

“It feels like most channels are just a collection of shows,” noted Jonze. “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.”

“This network is the next step in the evolution of our brand and the first step in our global rollout of networks around the world,” stated Shane Smith, VICE's co-founder and CEO. “First: It allows us to be truly platform agnostic and enable our audience to view our content wherever they want. Second: It represents a continued growth in our content quality and raises the ceiling even higher for our brilliant teams to attack stories from long form features to multi-episode series and even short-form interstitials that will challenge the accepted norms of current TV viewing. Third: We will test new and innovative monetization strategies placing VICELAND at the pointy tip of the spear of the rapidly changing terrain of TV advertising.

“All in all, this new network allows us to continue our innovation in storytelling and content creation and take it to the next level. We couldn’t be happier working with Nancy and her team at A+E and we couldn’t be more excited to offer this opportunity to our VICE family of partners, producers, shooters, editors, and staff, to go out and make our indelible imprint on the cultural fabric of this modern age.”