SBS is launching a new youth-focused channel called SBS Viceland on 15 November, replacing SBS2.
The new channel will be owned and operated by SBS but will be programmed with content from the US-Canadian media company Vice. It is a free-to-air channel that will be available on television and online platforms.
SBS2 was launched in 2009. In 2013 it rebranded with a younger focus and an orange logo, as well as a flagship program, The Feed, hosted by Marc Fennell.
The managing director of Vice Australia, Michael Slonim, said the partnership would “help catapult Vice further into the consciousness of young Australians”.
“SBS shares our storytelling sensibilities and curiosity about the world, and we’re delighted to be partnering up to bring Viceland to this market in the biggest way possible,” he said.
The global media company announced this year it would launch in more than 50 new countries, including many in the Middle East and Africa, and expand services in existing markets including Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
The SBS managing director, Michael Ebeid, said “exploring diversity through culture” was at the heart of SBS’s purpose, and Vice would bring some of the best available content from across the world.
The programming is yet to be revealed but the channel will continue to feature SBS2 shows such as The Feed as well as Vice shows on culture, music, sport, fashion and technology.
Viceland, created by the director Spike Jonze, was launched in the US this year with programs including Gaycation (with Ellen Page and Ian Daniel), Huang’s World (with Eddie Huang), Noisey (with Zach Goldbaum) and F*ck, That’s Delicious (with Action Bronson).
In August the site’s founder, Shane Smith, said traditional media companies had failed to connect with young audiences or cover the issues they were interested in.
Last month the Columbia Journalism Review criticised Vice for its treatment of freelance journalists in the US. “Journalists who have worked for Vice tell CJR that the company published their work without paying them for it, promised them assignments which were later rescinded, and asked reporters for their help with documentaries that covered issues they had written about without any plans to pay them for their work,” the review reported.
Vice responded by outlining steps it planned to take to improve the relationship.
