Following its recent investment of $200m in Vice Media, Walt Disney Co. has doubled its stakes in the youth-focused publisher.
This latest deal has increased Disney’s share in Vice – which is currently valued between $4.2bn and $4.5bn – to around 10%. The financing is reported to be separate from last month’s investment because it had to be approved by Disney’s board, which met last week.
The agreement will help finance original programming on a forthcoming lifestyle and entertainment TV channel, Viceland, in the slot currently occupied by A&E Networks History channel sister show, H2. It is expected to roll out at the end of February, initially to 70 million US homes.
Vice already has a weekly HBO news show, with a daily newscast expected to be introduced on the channel in the New Year.
Although wholesome family brand Disney and brash male-focused Vice are not obviously compatible, Disney is thought to have been attracted by A&E Network’s investment of $250m in 2014 as well as 21st Century Fox’s $70m investment.
At a time where cable television is facing challenges with ratings and decreased subscriptions, it is hoped that this investment could attract Vice’s young male core audience through its multiscreen approach to entertainment and news.
However, Disney is said to intend to keep the Vice brand entirely separate from its own.
