Vice launching Viceland with Canal+

Vice will launch its Viceland linear channel in France this year after teaming with pay TV operator Canal+.

The channel will be exclusive to CanalSat, Vice chief content officer Eddy Moretti said here in Cannes this morning. He announced the channel roll out – in French – at the end of Vice’s digital fronts presentation, in which it showcased several of its new shows.

Canal+ exec Jean Marc Juramie was ushered onto the stage after Moretti had unveiled the French service. “We’re very excited by this exclusive partnership in France,” he said.

“We’ve followed the incredible growth of Vice from a local magazine in Montreal to the global brand it is today. We are sure we will be able to better engage our younger audience.”

The launch marks the latest rollout for the Viceland channel, which is largely programmed with Vice-produced content. It has already teamed with Sky in the UK, and has already launched in North America.

Morretti said Vice has 30 shows in production and over 100 in development. It showed MIPTV delegates new fashion and sport-themed series this morning and also said it as plans to move into features.

The Vice presentation opened with a sizzle reel that had a voiceover claiming Vice is both the new MTV and the new CNN, while Morretti said its programming line-up is unique. “We are the only people delivering this kind of TV and content to young people,” he said. “Viceland completes the ecosystem, which is also mobile, tablet and multiscreen, for us.”

Morretti added: “We are not turning into a TV company. We have added TV to our multiplatform, platform-agnostic offering.”