VICELAND’S FUTURE IN CANADA may be on thin ice after word that its partner, Rogers Media, may have plans to pull its financial support for the specialty service.
According to a Globe and Mail report, Rogers will “cut off funding early next year”. The millennial-focused Viceland, which launched in Canada in February 2016 in place of the Biography Channel, is part of a joint venture between Rogers Media and Vice. The two also have a larger partnership that includes the Vice Canada content studio in Toronto, built thanks to a $100 million investment in Vice by Rogers Communications, announced in 2013.
Rogers is the driving partner, however, owning 70.1% of the Canadian TV channel, with Vice Media owning the other 29.9%. If Rogers were to "cut off funding" – that would seem to mean the channel would be closed down unless Vice took over full ownership.
The Canadian channel posted a loss of $2.49 million for the 12 months ended August 31, 2016, based on the most recent CRTC data available, quotes the report. While it brought in $787,000 in advertising revenue that year, subscriber fees, its main source of revenue, fell by 19% to $4.675 million.
Confusing things a little for consumers may be the fact that other Vice content is also widely available in Canada on TV through Bell Media conduits in Canada with Vice News Tonight on Much and HBO Canada.
In the States, Viceland is a joint venture between majority owner A&E Networks and Vice Media and Vice News Tonight airs on HBO.
Rogers Media and Vice Media Canada have so far declined to comment, adds the report.
