Vice TV

Vice TV is an American basic cable television channel associated with Vice Media. It launched on February 29, 2016, under the name Viceland, replacing the H2 channel on most U.S. multichannel television systems through a joint venture involving Vice Media and A+E Global Media. The venture gave Vice access to A+E’s distribution, advertising, and operational infrastructure, while allowing Vice to extend its digital-media identity into linear television. Vice Media held a minority stake and exercised creative and international-expansion control during the channel’s original structure. The channel’s initial creative direction came from filmmaker Spike Jonze. Its launch strategy emphasized strongly authored lifestyle documentaries, reality formats, music and food programming, travel, youth culture, fashion, cannabis, comedy, and adaptations of existing Vice web properties. Early series included Noisey, Gaycation, Huang’s World, Fuck, That’s Delicious, Weediquette, States of Undress, King of the Road, Vice World of Sports, and Black Market. The programming was designed to appeal particularly to younger viewers and to distinguish Viceland from conventional cable channels through Vice’s recognizable visual style and subject matter. Viceland’s early ratings were weaker than those of the former H2 service, and the channel gradually changed direction. In 2019, Vice began reducing its emphasis on lifestyle and entertainment programming and moved toward news and documentary content. The channel was brought under the Vice News division in August 2019, and Vice News Tonight was relaunched on the service after its HBO run. On December 2, 2019, Viceland adopted the name Vice TV, reflecting the channel’s broader programming remit and closer relationship with Vice News. Documentaries became central to the service’s identity. Dark Side of the Ring, which premiered in 2019, examined controversial and tragic stories from professional wrestling and became Vice TV’s highest-rated and longest-running original series. Its success led to related programs covering other combat sports and historical subjects, including Dark Side of Football and Dark Side of the Cage. Vice TV also carried acquired programming, feature films, wrestling content, and selected sports material. The channel expanded beyond traditional pay television through a free, ad-supported streaming television channel launched by Vice Media in 2021. That service used programming drawn from Vice’s television and digital archives and was distributed through platforms including The Roku Channel, Samsung TV Plus, and Tubi. In late 2024, reporting indicated that Vice TV planned to place greater emphasis on sports through a weeknight Vice Sports programming block. The planned slate included documentary series, combat sports, darts, basketball-related programming, studio and talk formats, event highlights, and acquired sports shows. Vice TV’s distribution and household reach have fluctuated with the broader economics of cable television and the difficulties faced by Vice Media. The channel was reported to reach approximately 45 million U.S. pay-TV households in 2023, below its earlier peak. Vice Media entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in May 2023 and sold substantially all of its assets to a lender consortium in August of that year. The channel nevertheless continued operating as a branded television and streaming service. Its present identity combines Vice’s documentary and journalistic sensibility with acquired entertainment and an increasingly prominent sports offering.

Vice TV developed from a strategic partnership between Vice Media and A+E Global Media. A&E Networks had acquired a minority interest in Vice Media in 2014, and in November 2015 the companies announced that Vice would take over H2 and relaunch it as Viceland. The arrangement combined Vice’s editorial identity and production capabilities with A&E’s carriage relationships, advertising operations, and television infrastructure. The parties viewed linear television as a way for Vice to reach television advertisers and households at scale while retaining a distinctive brand voice. Viceland began broadcasting on February 29, 2016. Its launch day included a countdown and material featuring Vice executives before the channel formally went live. The first program was an episode of Noisey focused on Kendrick Lamar. Spike Jonze served as the channel’s creative director, helping establish an editorial approach based on highly authored, character-driven documentaries rather than conventional factual programming. Vice aimed to make the network feel like a coherent point of view rather than a collection of unrelated shows. The original schedule targeted younger viewers, particularly millennials, and included both new productions and television adaptations of Vice’s digital series. Its early slate covered music, food, travel, fashion, comedy, cannabis, sexuality, identity, skating, and international culture. Programs such as Gaycation, Huang’s World, Fuck, That’s Delicious, Weediquette, States of Undress, King of the Road, and Vice World of Sports translated Vice’s web sensibility into longer television formats. Some programming was produced in Canada, reflecting the channel’s international production structure. The service also carried acquired films and archival or short-form Vice material. Despite attention from the media industry and awards recognition for some programs, Viceland experienced audience declines compared with H2. Its programming was subsequently reworked. In February 2019, the channel introduced Vice Live, a weekday live program intended to anchor prime time, but the format was shortened and cancelled after weak ratings. Dark Side of the Ring premiered in April 2019 and proved substantially more durable, giving the network a successful documentary franchise centered on wrestling history and controversy. In August 2019, Vice Media announced that the channel would be merged organizationally with Vice News and would move toward a news- and documentary-led schedule. Vice News Tonight, previously broadcast by HBO, was announced for a return on the channel. The reorientation was accompanied by a change of name: Viceland became Vice TV on December 2, 2019. The new identity preserved the Vice name while broadening the channel beyond the lifestyle programming associated with its launch. Vice TV continued to mix original documentaries with acquired reality programs, films, and sports. In 2021, Vice Media also launched a free ad-supported streaming channel assembled from programs such as Huang’s World, Noisey, and Vice Essentials. This extended the brand beyond pay-TV distribution and made selected Vice programming available through digital television platforms. Sports became increasingly important later in the channel’s development. Vice TV entered a television arrangement with Major League Wrestling in 2021 and broadcast MLW programming and the Fightland special. In late 2024, the company was reported to be planning a larger sports block for 2025, including sports documentaries, combat sports, basketball-related series, darts, event highlights, and acquired programs. The broader sports strategy complemented the channel’s established documentary approach. Vice TV’s corporate context was affected by the financial troubles of Vice Media. The parent company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May 2023, and substantially all of its assets were sold to a consortium of lenders in August. The channel continued operating despite that restructuring. By 2023, its reported U.S. pay-TV household availability had fallen to about 45 million, reflecting both channel distribution changes and the wider contraction of traditional cable television. Vice TV therefore occupies a hybrid position: a linear cable network with Vice-branded originals, a documentary and news heritage, an expanding sports identity, and distribution through free ad-supported streaming.

• 2024

  Sports programming becomes a larger strategic focus

  [1]Vice TVen.wikipedia.org

  Reporting described plans for a weeknight Vice Sports block with documentary, combat-sports, event, and acquired programming.

• 2023

  Vice Media enters bankruptcy proceedings

  [1]Vice TVen.wikipedia.org

  Vice Media filed for Chapter 11 and later completed a sale of substantially all assets to a lender consortium.

• 2021

  Vice TV expands into MLW programming

  [1]Vice TVen.wikipedia.org

  Major League Wrestling programming began airing on the channel, followed by the Fightland television special.

• 2021

  Vice launches a FAST channel

  [1]Vice TVen.wikipedia.org

  Vice Media launched a free ad-supported streaming channel using programming from the Vice television and digital libraries.

• 2019

  Dark Side of the Ring premieres

  [1]Vice TVen.wikipedia.org

  The wrestling documentary series debuted and later became Vice TV’s signature and longest-running original franchise.

• 2019

  Channel is renamed Vice TV

  [1]Vice TVen.wikipedia.org

  Following a shift toward news and documentaries, Viceland adopted the Vice TV name on December 2.

• 2016

  Viceland launches

  [1]Vice TVen.wikipedia.org

  The channel began broadcasting on February 29, replacing H2 on most U.S. multichannel providers.

• 2016

  ESPN and Vice announce a sports-content partnership

  [1]Vice TVen.wikipedia.org

  The agreement enabled content sharing, including ESPN documentary reruns on Viceland and Vice sports programming on ESPN properties.

• 2015

  Viceland is announced

  [1]Vice TVen.wikipedia.org

  A&E Networks announced that Vice would take over H2 and relaunch it as Viceland.

• 2014

  A&E Networks invests in Vice Media

  [1]Vice TVen.wikipedia.org

  A&E Networks acquired a minority stake in Vice Media, creating the corporate basis for a later television partnership.

A youth-oriented, point-of-view television service built around distinctive documentaries, news, culture, reality, and sports programming.

• Cable television channel · 2016

  Vice TV linear channel

  The core Vice TV service is a basic cable channel carrying original documentaries, news-related programming, reality formats, films, and acquired content. It began as Viceland in 2016 and was renamed Vice TV in 2019 after a strategic move toward documentaries and Vice News-related programming.

• Free ad-supported streaming television · 2021

  Vice TV FAST channel

  A digital, free ad-supported channel launched by Vice Media in 2021. Its schedule draws from former Vice TV series and other Vice library material, including Huang’s World, Noisey, and Vice Essentials, and has been distributed through services such as The Roku Channel, Samsung TV Plus, and Tubi.

• Documentary television franchise · 2019

  Dark Side franchise

  A group of documentary series examining difficult, controversial, or tragic stories in sports and popular culture. Dark Side of the Ring focuses on professional wrestling, while related programs have addressed football and mixed martial arts. The franchise became Vice TV’s most prominent original programming property.

• News television program · 2016

  Vice News Tonight

  A Vice news program originally associated with HBO that was announced for a return on Vice TV as part of the channel’s 2019 shift toward news and documentary programming.

• 2024

  Increase the role of sports programmingStrategy

  Background

  Vice TV had developed sports-related programming and wrestling partnerships, while its documentary identity offered a potential way to package sports stories and event coverage.

  Action taken

  The channel planned a larger Vice Sports presence and a weeknight block featuring sports documentaries, combat sports, darts, event highlights, talk formats, and acquired programming.

  Aftermath

  The reported plan broadened Vice TV’s schedule beyond news and cultural documentaries and made sports a more visible part of the brand strategy.

  Source

• 2021

  Launch a free ad-supported streaming channelProduct launch

  Background

  Vice Media sought additional digital distribution for its television and online library as audiences increasingly moved beyond traditional pay television.

  Action taken

  The company launched a FAST channel featuring selected Vice programs and distributed it through connected-TV platforms.

  Aftermath

  The Vice television brand gained a streaming distribution route alongside its traditional cable presence.

  Source

• 2019

  Reorient the channel toward news and documentariesStrategy

  Background

  Viceland’s original lifestyle and entertainment strategy produced weaker-than-expected audience performance, while Vice Media sought a closer relationship between its television channel and Vice News operations.

  Action taken

  Vice Media announced that the channel would be merged with Vice News and would adopt a more news- and documentary-focused schedule. The service was renamed Vice TV later that year.

  Aftermath

  The change established documentaries as a central part of the channel’s identity and created the programming environment in which Dark Side of the Ring became a major success.

  Source

• 2024

  Vice TV plans a larger sports focus[1]Vice TVen.wikipedia.org

  Product launch

  Reporting indicated that Vice TV would introduce a larger Vice Sports presence and a weeknight sports block featuring documentaries, combat sports, event coverage, and acquired programming.

• 2023

  Vice Media files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy[1]Vice TVen.wikipedia.org

  Bankruptcy · M&A

  Vice Media filed for Chapter 11 protection in May 2023. Its assets were subsequently sold to a consortium of lenders, with the sale closing in August.

• 2019

  Viceland shifts toward news and documentary programming[1]Vice TVen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  Vice Media announced that the channel would be integrated with Vice News and would move away from its original lifestyle-heavy programming strategy.

• 2019

  Viceland is renamed Vice TV[1]Vice TVen.wikipedia.org

  Leadership change

  The channel adopted the Vice TV name on December 2, following its programming and organizational shift toward news and documentaries.

• 2016

  Viceland launches as a replacement for H2[1]Vice TVen.wikipedia.org

  Product launch

  Vice Media and A+E Global Media launched Viceland on February 29, replacing H2 on most U.S. multichannel television systems.

1. 1Vice TVen.wikipedia.org