NEW YORK – Vice and Home Box Office (HBO) have struck a major news partnership that will expand Vice’s Emmy-winning news programming to HBO subscribers over the next four years, and significantly increase that network’s current events coverage.
The announcement says that Vice’s brand of high-impact journalism and breaking news content will be delivered in a wide-range of formats, including:
– The Vice daily newscast, consisting of five half-hour shows per week, 48 weeks a year;
– An increase in its weekly documentary series on HBO, which will jump from 14 to 35 episodes a year;
– Vice-produced long-form specials will increase to 32 through 2018; and
– A Vice-branded channel on the HBO NOW streaming service will provide instant access to Vice content for all HBO subscribers.
“Together with HBO, we will expand our news offerings to viewers everywhere, creating HBO's first-ever daily newscast, producing hard-hitting specials, like our recent Special Report on cancer, and expanding our weekly news round-ups from around the world”, said Vice founder and CEO Shane Smith, in the announcement. “Over the last few years, our relationship with HBO has morphed from a great business partnership into a transformative brand-builder. This groundbreaking deal will create a new voice in news.”
“Shane and the Vice team have produced some of the most groundbreaking and dynamic journalism anywhere. From the front lines in the Ukraine, to the icebergs of Antarctica and the streets of Ferguson, Vice news has helped illuminate and expand our understanding of an increasingly complex world”, added HBO CEO Richard Plepler and HBO programming president Michael Lombardo. “This extension of the HBO/Vice relationship, which will include more shows, more documentaries and even a Vice daily newscast, is a natural evolution of our partnership.”
