Vice and ESPN Team Up to Produce Sports Shows
May 03 2016 - 11:29AM
Dow Jones News
By Keach Hagey
ESPN and Vice Media are teaming up to make shows together and
swap content onto each other's TV channels and digital platforms,
deepening the relationship between the sports network's owner, Walt
Disney Co., and the youth-focused media company.
In addition to collaborating on short-form series together,
films from ESPN's documentary series "30 for 30" will re-air on
Vice's new TV channel, Viceland, the companies announced Tuesday.
Edited versions of the Viceland show "Vice World of Sports" will
air on ESPN's linear and digital channels.
The production and distribution deal is a sign of the
increasingly interesting alliances that are being forged as the
cable TV bundle comes under pressure from cord-cutting,
particularly among the young audiences that Vice is targeting.
ESPN's parent company, Disney, led a sharp selloff in media stocks
last summer after it lowered its financial forecast in part because
of subscriber losses at ESPN as consumers cut the cord or opted for
"skinnier" cable packages.
Over the last two years, Disney has ramped up its investment in
Vice to become its largest outside stakeholder. Last fall, Disney
invested $400 million for a roughly 9% stake in Vice. That's on top
of the stake Disney already held through its joint venture with
Hearst in A+E Networks, which has a more than 15% stake in
Vice.
Viceland, a joint venture between Vice and A+E Networks, was
launched earlier this year on A+E's former H2 channel.
Vice began as a punk 'zine in Montreal in 1994, and has expanded
into one of the largest digital content companies, now in the midst
of a major expansion into traditional television. The funding round
last year valued it at nearly $4.5 billion.
The collaboration between Vice and ESPN will bear some of the
hallmarks of Vice's edgy programming reputation. Shows in
development will look at, among other things, "dominant athletes,
fascinating characters and championship events that reside outside
the mainstream," the companies said. They are also working on a
short-form animated series. In addition to the "Vice World of
Sports," which made its debut on April 27, Vice Sports shows
including "The Clubhouse" will appear on ESPN properties.
"Growing up watching ESPN I came to love the brand and their
content. Maybe a little too much. The amount of manly tears shed
over various 30 for 30's throughout the years has been nothing
short of embarrassing," said Shane Smith, Vice Media's chief
executive, in a statement.
"Evoking manly tears from Shane Smith is no small task, and I
take immense pride in that," said ESPN President John Skipper in a
statement, adding, "And I applaud Shane for understanding that
television is the smartest path to worldwide leadership."
Write to Keach Hagey at keach.hagey@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 03, 2016 12:14 ET (16:14 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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