HBO Cancels Vice News Tonight with Vice President Media

by



[ad_1]

"We decided not to renew Vice News tonight after this season," an HBO spokesman said in a statement. "We spent seven great years partnering with VICE Media, first with the weekly news magazine series, and more recently with the evening news show."

The 30-minute news show debuted in 2016 with a major fanfare, airing every night on HBO in an effort to provide viewers with the context of the biggest stories of the day. Led by Josh Tyrangiel, Executive Vice President of Information for Vice Media, "Vice News Tonight" has won several awards, including four Emmys for his coverage of the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville and an Emmy for his coverage of activists of the Islamic State.
The news of its cancellation comes at a time of major upheaval for Vice Media. In its second quarter earnings report, Walt Disney Company announced that it had written down its $ 353 million stake in Vice Media. Vice also canceled "Vice Live" in April, just weeks after its debut, after failing to attract an audience. In February, the company laid off 10% of its workforce, or about 250 employees. And over the past two years, the company has restructured its leadership, notably with the appointment of former A & E president, Nancy Dubuc, to the position of CEO, in as much as has endeavored to improve its culture as a result of allegations of sexual misconduct.

Tyrangiel said in an email to employees that he would leave the company at the end of the month. He stated that he "loved every minute" of work at Vice Media and that he "could use a break before thinking" about his next move.

In an email sent to employees, Dubuc suggested that the cancellation of "Vice News Tonight" was related to the acquisition of Time Warner by AT & T, owner of HBO.

Dubuc said the decision was made in a context of "leadership changes and content strategy at HBO". Since the merger between AT & T and Time Warner, which has been renamed WarnerMedia, Richard Plelper, long-time CEO of HBO, has resigned and several network executives have followed suit. WarnerMedia is also the parent company of CNN.

"This seven-year partnership began with Shane's vision and ability to enter into Transformation Agreements, allowing us to be the most Emmy-award-winning news release and the most current news available each day." wrote Dubuc in his email to employees.

Dubuc described Vice News as a "pillar" of the company and as "growing importance and power" for the brand as a whole. A Media Vice spokesperson added to CNN Business that there would be no dismissal following the cancellation of "Vice News Tonight".

"A daily VICE News show will continue and I can share all the details with you in the coming weeks," added Dubuc.

The Hollywood Reporter reported that Vice Media was working on an information-centric show for Hulu. A person familiar with the case confirmed to CNN Business that a show was in production.

Dubuc also announced that Jesse Angelo, former managing director and publisher of the New York Post, would join Vice Media on June 24 as president of Global News and Entertainment.

"Jesse joins us in creating expanded platform opportunities and franchises for all of our great talent and the content we produce every day," Dubuc wrote in his email to employees. "What's important is that its role actually materializes our ambitions to expand our global presence in VICE News."

[ad_2]

Source link