CNN.com in Video Deal with Vice, Sub Pop Records

ATLANTA: CNN.com is to premiere two new web-exclusive video series, VBS.TV on CNN.com and Indie Asia: On Tour with Handsome Furs, through content partnerships signed with Vice’s VBS.TV and Sub Pop Records, respectively. 

Every Wednesday, starting today, CNN.com will feature original content from VBS.TV, an online network overseen by film director Spike Jonze that focuses on pop- and underground-culture coverage. The first episode, "Vice Guide to Liberia," follows Vice founder Shane Smith as he travels through the war-torn country interviewing ex-war lords and residents struggling to move past a decade of violence. Smith commented: “Most people who hear about this partnership will think, Vice and CNN, hmmm… That’s an odd pair of bedfellows for you. And you’d be right. The ‘Hipsters’ Bible’ hooking up with the world’s news leader is a bit odd. But as our company began to evolve and cover stories around the globe, CNN was our first and only choice for a partner. In a world of hyper-partisan opinion-led ‘news,’ CNN’s credibility and reach put it in a class by itself. We couldn’t be more excited with a partner unless it was Jimi Hendrix (nod to all the Baby Boomers out there) joining our rock and roll band.”

The Handsome Furs, an indie rock band on the Sub Pop label, document their first tour across Asia in support of their second record in Indie Asia: On Tour with Handsome Furs. A new episode will appear regularly in the travel section of CNN.com beginning tomorrow. "As a compact, nimble and experience-hungry two-piece, there are few touring bands more adventurous than Handsome Furs," said Jonathan Poneman, Sub Pop’s founder and CEO. "It’s a real honor to be associated with such an amazing rock band, one so bent on bringing their wholly unique music to such far-flung parts of the world. Likewise, it’s an amazing opportunity for them and Sub Pop to be able to share Handsome Furs’ experiences with the millions of people CNN.com reaches every day around the world. In the end, that sort of connection—on record, at shows and now on CNN.com—is the whole point.”

The new series help to add a more youth-skewed voice to CNN’s global reporting. “When we unveiled the new CNN.com, we wanted to showcase CNN’s in-depth reporting, as well as introduce a new range of voices to our users through strategic partnerships,” said KC Estenson, the senior VP and general manager of CNN.com. “Indie Asia will provide users with a unique cultural travel log of Asia, while the original storytelling from VBS.TV promises to bring the CNN.com audience smart, alternative documentary-style videos.”