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Nov. 16, 2023
Vice Axes Jobs and Revamps following Cancellations of its shows
Vice Media Group will be restructuring after the cancellation of its Vice On Showtime and Vice News Tonight programme, with a new operating structure and undergoing job losses. By: Dylan Low
The company, which was acquired in August by Fortress Investment Group, underwent job losses earlier this year but is now expected to axe an additional 100 staff after “a number of Vice News shows” were not renewed.
In a message to staff, Vice CEOs Bruce Dixon and Hozefa Lokhandwala mentioned that the company would be “winding down those productions and sadly this will have an impact on certain roles.” They further mentioned that Vice News “is not going away” with production on digital news and documentaries, such as Paramount+’s Superpower continuing broadcast.
Dixon and Lokhandwala, who were both appointed co-CEOs at Vice following Nancy Dubuc leaving in February, also announced a new two-pronged set-up compared to the five divisions it had previously used.
The Studios, Television and Distribution unit will host Vice Studios Group (Vice Studios, Pulse Films), Vice News Films, Vice TV and its distribution team. A Publishing, News and Creative Services unit will now be the main support for publishing teams across entertainment and news, alongside its ad agency Virtue and its commercial group.
This company revamp comes six months after Vice’s $350m sale was first announced, after the company’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Before that, Vice had been on a long but unsuccessful search for a buyer that caused the company to make “painful but necessary” cuts to staff and programming.
Dixon and Lokhandwala claim the fresh new structure “will help us work more effectively towards our shared creative and business goals, better align our people and resources, and allow us to capitalise on the unique opportunities that lie ahead.” Also, the combined business units would “provide a more cohesive, collaborative and focused structure that will enable us to better amplify our content across multiple products and distribution opportunities,” helping to also lessen corporate costs.
The co-CEOs stated more job losses may be seen, including “country or market closures”, and added that the company was operating through a “difficult period for media at large, as evidenced by all the restructurings and changes across the sector.”
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