Vice sets Oz launch, UK channel struggles

Vice will launch its TV channel is Australia next month, as part of its global rollout.

In Australia it will be a free-to-air service run in partnership with public broadcaster SBS.

A November 15 launch date has been set and Vice said its director, Spike Jonze, will oversee the channel.

Ahead of the launch Vice reached out to local viewers to ask for their views on how the channel should look and feel.

On its website it issued a note that read: “Tell us what you want from a TV channel. Tell us what you don’t want from a TV channel. Tell us what you’re wearing. We’re all ears. Love, Vice”.

The latest channel launch comes as Vice struggles to establish itself in the UK.

It launched late last month on the Sky platform in the UK and has registered a peak audience of 14,000, according to The Guardian. Citing Enders Analysis, the paper reported the channel registered zero live viewers in its peak-viewing slot.

The channel has Vice shows from the US as well as UK originals Big Night Out, Hate for Beginners – Jamali Maddix and Rule Britannia, all of which are in-house productions.

It plans to launch in over 50 territories globally. The hipster brand has recruited several execs from the traditional TV business to runs its linear nets. Former Discovery Asia boss Arjan Hoekstra runs its channels operation in Europe. In the UK it hired a trio of TV producers ahead of launch. In the US it has hired former MTV and Turner execs.