Vice online TV channel set for Aussie version
Australia is going to see a local launch for Vice magazine’s online TV channel VBS in the next few months, company founder Shane Smith has told Mumbrella during a flying visit to Sydney.
The co-founder of the magazine was in Australia for talks with the TV networks about putting Vice content on air. Vice has created a series of programmes for its VBS online network. Among the best known is the documentary Heavy Metal In Baghdad.
He told Mumbrella: “A lot of the networks are interested in putting our stuff on the air.”
He said that the feel of the Australian scene was much like Canada, where Vice launched. He said: ‘It’s a massive country in the middle of nowhere, with a relatively small scene with everyone supporting each other. It’s not like being in New York, where if you fail, you’re dead.”
As Mumbrella reported last month month, Vice is launching its own agency – Virtue – to help brands get closer to its fashionable audience.
Smith said that a project under way in Europe is for Vice to create a youth-oriented portal for Vodafone which could in time be extended to Australia.
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I’d be interested in hearing from VBS what the local launch of an online/international media channel involves?
http://VBS.tv is accessible in Australia already, can we just expect local advertisers to come on board, or the production of local content?
If the latter, I’m anxious/terrified to see what the Australian analogue of Japanese eel porn turns out to be 😉
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Hi Tom,
I’m sure that the guys from Vice will jump in themselves at some point, but my udnerstanding is that it will involve an upping of the amount of Aussie-originated content. I’m sure the eels will remains available too though…
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella