Rogers to end support for Viceland: report

The two media cos have partnered on the channel since 2015.
By Staff 
November 29, 2017

Rogers Media will no longer financially support Vice Media’s Viceland channel, according to a report from The Globe and Mail.

The Globe reports Rogers has given Vice advance notice that it plans to cut off funding early next year. Playback and Media In Canada have not been able to independently confirm reports.

Rogers Media and Vice announced $100 million agreement in 2014 to launch a production studio and channel in Canada. The Viceland channel, a joint venture between Rogers and Vice, officially launched in Canada in 2015, taking over the broadcast licence for Rogers Media’s Biography Channel.

At the time of the channel’s launch, Rogers Media president Rick Brace said Rogers was attempting to reach the sought-after milliennial demo.

When asked for comment by Media In Canada, Andrea Goldstein, senior director of communications at Rogers Media, said “we do not comment on rumours or speculation.”

Vice similarly declined to comment when contacted by Media In Canada.

According to the CRTC’s 2017 Communications Monitoring Report, Viceland had 1.5 million Canadian subscribers in 2016 and posted a loss of nearly $2.5 million.

More to come as this story develops.

This story originally appeared in Playback.

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