Vice, the New York-based millennial-targeted media brand, is going to launch in India on April 2. The Vice Media and Times Group have formed a joint venture (JV) 20 months ago.
The announcement has been made by Hosi Simon, the company’s Asia Pacific CEO at FICCI Frames in Grand Hyatt, Mumbai.
Simon said that Vice India’s content would be targeted at an Indian readership and that the company wanted to reach young readers beyond the thin slice of English speaking cosmopolitan elites, with content in regional languages.
The partnership will see Vice opening a new bureau and production hub in Mumbai, creating original content to be distributed across television, mobile, digital and linear platforms in the region, a statement from the company said.
However, there’s some problem with the Viceland – its paid TV network as they have not got clearances from the Indian government.
The traditional media companies have different departments like television, digital, and social while Vice has a studio-like approach.
According to the Ken report, Amazon Prime Video and Netflix are in the running to globally license Vice India’s content. While Vice has print magazine editions in other countries, it’s not clear if one will be released in India during launch.
Recently, the JV had appointed Chanpreet Arora as the chief executive officer (CEO). Earlier, Vice India had appointed Pragya Tiwari is the editor-in-chief and Samira Kanwar as the head of video.
Vice enjoys a global reputation for producing quality video content for young people, forging innovative distribution partnerships with A+E Networks, HBO, YouTube, Snapchat, Sky, Live Nation, 20th Century Fox, Verizon, Canal+, Spotify and more to take its programming to young people everywhere.
The company will be a year behind its planned launch deadline of Q1 2017 by launching in April.
