Shane Smith - H 2015
AP ImagesVice Media’s transition from youthful upstart on the media landscape to mainstream player is complete after it was revealed that the company was on track to make close to a $1 billion in revenue in 2015.
The New York Times reports that the company, which began as a free magazine in 1994, is projected to make $915 million this year, according to private internal company documents seen by the Times and verified by a person familiar with the matter.
Vice’s revenue has swelled after striking a number of lucrative content deals with established networks. The Brooklyn-based company inked a large four-year content deal with HBO in March that will, among other things, see the launch of a Vice daily newscast.
Vice also struck a $100 million deal with Canada’s Rogers Communications that will see the company produce original content for TV, smartphone and desktop viewers.
The Times report says that on the back of those HBO and Rogers deals, Vice has brought in $545 million in the first quarter of 2015.
As well as providing established media players with content, Vice is expanding its own footprint with the launch of Broadly, it’s first female focused channel, as well as its own cable channel when A&E’s H2 is rebranded as Vice.
At NewFronts recently, Vice founder, CEO and largest shareholder Shane Smith also outlined plans for 20 new shows.
