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Vice Media is merging its cable network and news division, a move that has resulted in a small round of layoffs at the company, a source familiar with the cuts tells The Hollywood Reporter.
The layoffs impacted around 15 positions at Viceland, according to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported the news, and come as the three-year-old network focuses on news following its decision to pick up Vice News Tonight after its cancellation at HBO. The move is being spearheaded by Jesse Angelo, who joined the media company in June to oversee news, television and digital.
A Vice spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment.
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Since its launch in 2016, Viceland has focused on entertainment programming like Fuck, That’s Delicious from host Action Bronson and The Hunt for the Trump Tapes from Tom Arnold. The network, which is run by general manager Guy Slattery, was prevented from pursuing news programming because of its relationship with HBO, which at the time aired two current events-focused shows from Vice.
HBO ended its partnership with Vice in June when it cancelled daily news series Vice News Tonight. (Newsmagazine Vice had already ended on the network.) The company’s news chief, Josh Tyrangiel, decided to leave the company around the same time.
Vice announced earlier this month that it would revive VNT as a nightly anchor for Viceland, a move that followed the short-lived run of daily variety series Vice Live on the network.
The merging of Viceland and Vice News comes amid CEO Nancy Dubuc’s effort to cut costs and reach profitability at the once high-flying new media startup. Under Dubuc, Vice laid off around 10 percent of its staff in early February, part of a reorganization that placed emphasis on its film and TV production business, news group and branded agency Virtue.
Dubuc also raised a new, $250 million round of debt financing for the company in May from a cadre of investors that included George Soros’ Soros Fund Management.
