Ready for a lot more Vice? Well if you’re in the U.S. or Europe, you’re going to get plenty more Shane Smith and cohorts as the company launches television networks in both places (12 European markets, specifically) in 2016. Smith is on a pretty serious victory lap, as he revealed that Vice has also been doubling its profit and revenues and is targeting $1 billion this year, set to double that over the next few years.
Chris Ip looks at the rise of Vice Media, its charismatic founder, Shane Smith and its “almost anachronistic” move to cable as it expands its television footprint. “Vice has mastered the mass production of authenticity for profit,” Ip writes, as it grows to a global workforce of 1,500 and aims to straddle maturity and youthful swagger.
Exclusives
ice Media Inc., the online news organization that reports from remote corners of the globe, plans to create television networks in the U.S. and other markets in the next year. The New York-based company has held talks on its TV ambitions with cable and satellite providers, CEO Shane Smith says, without identifying potential partners.
