Dive Brief:
- Vice Media is moving beyond short HBO episodes to an entire channel on A&E Networks tentatively called "Viceland."
- Vice’s in-house ad agency Virtue has a successful track record with branded ad content and is expected to bring that advertising model to the cable channel.
- Vice is among the new media publishers, including Vox, BuzzFeed and Refinery29, that have staked a claim to create ad units in-house and actively avoid programmatic ad sales on their websites.
Dive Insight:
Vice Media is about to dramatically boost its TV presence by taking over an A&E Networks cable channel, currently held by H2, next year. The new channel, beyond bringing its cutting edge editorial angle to an entire cable channel, is also expected to bring its successful branded content ad model driven by Vice’s in-house agency, Virtue. In an earnings call, Discovery Communications Chief Executive David Zaslav singled out Vice Media for monetizing its streams through its current digital ad model.
Vice CEO Shane Smith said in a statement, “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.”
Vice Media announced the ad model will involve working with “brand partners to reimagine the nature of the television commercial – making the commercial a valuable extension of the entertainment programming itself.” This shift from the more typical 30-second TV ad units isn’t far from Vice’s approach to digital ads, as it has actively avoided serving programmatic ads on its web properties, and instead works directly with brands via Virtue to create branded content.
