From a DIY Canadian magazine to the global digitial media empire it is today, Vice‘s exponential reach has now marched its provocative brand of news and lifestyle content into living rooms through its newly launched 24-hour Viceland TV channel.
Its establishment in traditional TV is only natural — its immersionist style of documentaries and programs garnered millions of views on its YouTube channel before it hopped onto HBO for its own series. With Viceland, the trademark style of character-driven documentaries found a new home with names such as Ellen Page and Michael K. Williams and more hosting their own programmes.
While the TV channel has remained solely limited to countries in the Western hemisphere, Vice has recently struck a deal with international media partners as part of its aggressive expansion. Viceland will soon be available in 44 countries, including territories in the Middle East, Africa, India, Australia and, of course, Southeast Asia.
According to The Guardian, Vice has been working with Singapore-based Multi Channels Asia — who is currently responsible for distributing channels such as Bloomberg Television, NDTV and more — to launch across Asia Pacific. Soon enough, folks can get their 24-hour Vice fix on TV in 18 countries including Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.
It might be a bit of a stretch to see Viceland go uncensored if it does launch here, considering the unfiltered, provocative content it’s known for. There’s drugs (Weediquette); there’s LGBT issues (Gaycation with Ellen Page); there’s strong language (all the shows) — and the Media Development Authority’s not going to stand for all that. When it does launch here somehow, it’ll probably be the best way to bring millennials back to watching TV at home.
