VICE Media Group has announced the continuation of its partnership with Australian broadcaster, SBS, with a renewed content deal for its SBS Viceland TV channel, and SBS digital platforms.

The agreement includes more than 1,000 hours of VICE Media Group content available to Australians through SBS, with exclusive access to more than 600 hours of new, original programming, including VICE TV documentary features and series, as well as content from the new VICE World News strand and original productions from VICE Studios.

Announcing the deal, Kate Ward, President of VICE Studios, said, “We are thrilled to be continuing our landmark partnership with SBS in Australia. In SBS we have a partner who shares our deep commitment to storytelling through premium programming that resonates with this powerful generation of young people.” 

Adding: “This multi-year commitment is testament to the strength and depth of VICE’s creative programming across factual, lifestyle, documentary, investigative journalism and current affairs which, alongside the world-renowned VICE brand, attracts and retains youth audiences in Australia.” 

The deal extends an already successful partnership between VICE and SBS which began in 2016 with the launch of SBS Viceland, a free-to-air television channel bringing Australians a unique and curated mix of VICE programming alongside other SBS content.

Peter Andrews, Head of Network Programming, SBS, said: “SBS Viceland plays a special role in our network celebrating diversity, exposing people to new cultures and ideas, and helping us all to better understand the world around us. We’re excited to be continuing to offer Australians compelling, boundary-pushing stories, spanning culture and current affairs, through our content partnership with Vice, and are looking forward to bringing local audiences an impressive line-up of new and exclusive Vice programming.”

Titles for the upcoming premiere on SBS Viceland include: 

From Vice TV: the third season of the ratings-winning pro wrestling documentary series Dark Side of the Ring alongside the newly announced expansion of the franchise, Dark Side of The 90s, which will explore the decade’s most captivating pop-culture moments. Also airing soon on SBS Viceland will be the explosive series While The Rest of Us Die which unmasks how the elite are saved and normal people die when catastrophe strikes, documentary strand VICE VERSA, a new series of independent documentary specials that serve as a hub for compelling storytelling that challenges the status quo, as well as the hotly anticipated third season of Hamilton’s Pharmacopeia. 

From VICE World News (VWN): programming includes the investigative documentary series Wet Markets Exposed, which looks at the underbelly of wildlife wet markets across the globe, and Fringe Nation, a new series that explores whether the actions of those at the fringes have a disproportionate – and irreversible – impact on the United States. 

In addition, the acclaimed feature documentary Mayor from Emmy-winning director, editor, and composer David Osit, will be available exclusively on SBS Viceland as part of VWN’s The Short List with Suroosh Alvi, a collection of the world’s best documentaries curated by VICE founder Suroosh Alvi.  

VICE Studios’ new upcoming three-part production for Channel 5, Jack the Ripper: Hidden Victims (w/t), which provides a new take on historical crime documentaries and debunks the myths and mistruths around the infamous murderer Jack the Ripper, will also premiere in Australia on SBS Viceland.

VICE Studios launched a new Distribution group earlier this year with a catalogue of over 1000 hours of premium VICE content that includes VICE News Tonight, the most Emmy Nominated show in 2020, VICE TV’s highest rating show Dark Side of the Ring, which has recently been renewed for a third season, as well as popular titles like Hate Thy Neighbour with Jamali Maddix and Karley Sciortino’s Slutever. The ever-expanding catalogue also includes hundreds of hours of new content every year such as the new documentary strand VICE VERSA, the epic drag racing show Donkmaster and the returning hit series Black Market with Michael K. Williams.

The deal with SBS underpins VICE’s continued growth and success in the wider Asia Pacific region which has seen multi-platform audience growth of over 200 percent and a slew of award wins. Recent VICE Studios productions in the region include the ambitious original series, Open Secrets and Point Blank for VMG’s VICE World News strand and high-profile audio projects such as Extremes for Spotify Australia.