Vice media officially launches in India

VICE Media, the world’s leading youth media brand, today officially announced its operations in India to reach the youth population in what will be the youngest country in the world by 2020. Today’s launch comes through a partnership with Times of India Group. VICE India will bring locally relevant content to hundreds of millions of new eyeballs in primarily, Hindi and English.

VICE is producing and distributing local programming for digital, mobile and linear platforms. VICE India has introduced all of its digital brands under the VICE.com banner, premiering a significant late night prime time television block across the Times of India portfolio - bringing the best of VICELAND’s award-winning content to a mass market.

With a strong focus on culturally-relevant topics and experiences of what it is like to be young in India today, VICE India’s local content programming will span conversations across topics like food, music, politics, sports, sex, identity, nightlife, arts, and comedy. In the coming months, the company plans to showcase a wide range of content encompassing topics that directly impact or affect the youth of the country - including local mental health crisis, sexual assault on university campuses, navigating life in India as an LGBTQI+ individual, the taboo sex industry, and political action in the region, amongst others.

New offices in Mumbai and Delhi will host full-scale VICE operations, including a local offering of Virtue Worldwide, VICE’s in-house creative agency, and a full-service content production studio, VICE Studio, producing local news, culture, documentary, film and scripted content for television, SVOD, OTT and digital platforms.

Chanpreet Arora, CEO at VICE India

Last month, VICE India announced the appointment of Chanpreet Arora as Chief Executive Officer and Samira Kanwar as Head of Content. Speaking about the launch, Chanpreet Arora, CEO at VICE India - “We are humbled by the response we have received on our content as we launch and are excited to partner with people, brands and organizations who are on a mission to connect with India’s youth and impact their future positively.”

Beyond VICE’s main partnership with The Times of India group, additional, partnerships, including with Facebook, will bring VICE’s content to millions of new viewers in the region through original local production and reporting, and licensing. With more details on multiple platform partnerships to be announced in the coming months.

Speaking on the launch Saurabh Doshi, Head - Entertainment Partnerships, Asia-Pacific at Facebook said - “Large number of people on Facebook in India are young.  We are happy to see Vice Media launch in India and excited about the opportunity that people will get to see content that will be relevant, high quality and something which will encourage meaningful conversations.”

Virtue Worldwide, the creative agency borne out of VICE, has entered into major brand partnerships that will provide creative services throughout India. Launch partnerships in the region include Mountain Dew (PepsiCo) and Anheuser-Busch InBev.

On the heels of its global association, VICE India, in partnership with Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world's largest brewer, will be working together to create, curate and distribute culture-centric content to augment the reach of the latter's portfolio brands like Budweiser in the country. 

"We are excited to extend our global relationship with VICE in India to collaborate on creating immersive experiences. We are confident that this partnership will allow both entities to cater and connect to the passion points of India's youth." - Kartikeya Sharma, Marketing Director, Anheuser-Busch InBev, India.

Hosi Simon, CEO of VICE APAC

Hosi Simon, CEO of VICE APAC who was in the country to launch the brand said – “Everything we do, our aim is to reach the aspirational mass audience which is about to make their voices heard loudly in India. We are looking beyond urban India, into the regional emerging, aspirational, and highly curious youth population, which we believe will own the future of the country very soon. We hope to create ground-breaking content and play a significant role in creating and giving a voice to the youth of India, and helping to bring their stories and creativity to all parts of India, and to the rest of the world.”

Rishi Jaitly, CEO of Times Bridge, the arm of The Times Group which invests in and supports big, global ideas committed to India - including Airbnb, Coursera, Houzz, MUBI, Thrive and Uber - said: "At Times Bridge, we invest in a select set of companies with a high-order commitment to India and the opportunities the market presents from an audience, business and mission standpoint. In VICE, we're proud to work with an inspired, ambitious partner that aspires to engage and immerse across India. We're looking forward to VICE India becoming the country's leading youth media company, engaging and delighting millennial and Gen Z audiences across the subcontinent."