Vice Media Group Lays Off More Staff

Peter White

9 November 2023 at 9:30 am·2-min read

Vice Media Group is beginning a restructuring process that will see the departure of a number of employees.

The youth-skewing broadcaster is undergoing its latest round of layoffs this year as it winds down a number of long-running news programs. Sources told Deadline that less than 100 people are impacted.

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Vice CEOs Bruce Dixon and Hozefa Lokhandwala revealed the news in a memo sent to staff this morning, which Deadline has obtained a copy of (see below).

It comes as Vice on Showtime was canceled after season four and Vice News Tonight ended.

Dixon and Lokhandwala were named co-CEOs in February following the departure of Nancy Dubuc. From there, they’ve had a busy year, laying off staff in April with the cancelation of Vice News Tonight, and in August following its bankruptcy sale.

The company was acquired at the end of July by a group of its former lenders, Fortress Investment Group, Soros Fund Management and Monroe Capital.

However, it stressed that Vice is not getting out of news and is still creating news across multiple platforms.

It also has its studio business, which is behind projects including the Superpower documentary with Sean Penn for Paramount+, and Encounters for Netflix, produced with Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Television.

As part of its restructure, it is turning five divisions into two. The publishing, news and creative division will include its publishing teams across entertainment and news as well as ad agency Virtue and its commercial group. A new Studios, Television and Distribution division includes Vice Studios, Pulse Films, Vice News Films, Vice TV and distribution.

Team,

Today, we’re taking a series of steps in line with the strategic direction and imperatives that we outlined in our email on September 29.

First, a number of Vice News shows have reached the end of their production cycle and have not been renewed with distributors as of yet. As such, we will be winding down those productions and sadly this will have an impact on certain roles. If your job is impacted, you will be hearing directly from the HR team today. To be clear, Vice News is not going away. Vice will continue to produce digital news, as well as Vice News documentaries, both series and films, for FAST Channels, streaming services and other partners.

Second, alongside these actions, we are also taking this moment to restructure our overall corporate organization. Starting today, we will be beginning the transition from five distinct lines of business to two. This reorganization will result in the following two dedicated LOBs:

Publishing, News and Creative services: This group will include our Publishing teams across Entertainment and News, as well as Virtue and our commercial group

Studios, Television and Distribution. This group includes our Vice Studios Group (Vice Studios, Pulse Films), Vice News Films, Vice TV and distribution.

The transition to two dedicated LOBs will help us work more effectively towards our shared creative and business goals, better align our people and resources, and allow us to capitalize on the unique opportunities that lie ahead. The combined business units provide a more cohesive, collaborative and focused structure that will enable us to better amplify our content across multiple products and distribution opportunities. It will also allow us to streamline our overall corporate infrastructure, reducing overhead across the business. The transition will not happen overnight. The leaders of each LOB will follow up with further information about their go-forward plans.

Similarly, we are continuing with our market review, which may include country or market closures, to reallocate our resources to drive profitability, which is an imperative in the current market environment and for the long-term health of the Company. As we work through these reviews, we will share further information with you.

We understand that this is a lot of information, and it means a number of our colleagues across the business will be departing. Many have made enormous contributions to VMG over the years and we’re deeply grateful to them.

This is a difficult period for media at large, as evidenced by all the restructurings and changes across the sector. We aren’t immune to these challenges. But our strategic moves today will help our business become nimble enough to adjust to continuous change, allowing VMG to continue to serve our consumers, partners and distributors while putting ourselves in a place to weather the current market.

There is much work ahead and the path forward will contain further challenges, but Vice is an incredibly strong brand and has an important place in this world. We are all stewards for VMG’s brand legacy and most importantly champions for the brighter, stronger future ahead.

Bruce and Hozefa

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