Vice partners with The Guardian and SpotX in video deals | M&M Global

Vice partners with The Guardian and SpotX in video deals

Vice and The Guardian are partnering for a new production unit in Vice’s London office, sharing expertise across platforms.

Vice

 

Vice will have access to a unit of dedicated Guardian journalists to produce original investigative news stories, while the Guardian will utilise Vice’s video production skills, distribution platform and audience.

Special co-branded reports will air across Vice news offerings including Vice News Tonight, Vice on HBO and Vice Specials as part of the partnership, which will also see the development of new video formats across genres and platforms.

“When I was a young man studying political science, my International Politics professor told me to get a Guardian subscription because it was ‘the best news in the world’. I have had one ever since,” said Vice Media co-founder and chief executive Shane Smith.

“This partnership provides a test case for the way forward in multi-platform exploitation of content and when that content is the foremost investigative news in the business it becomes even more imperative. Real, fact-based, trusted news has never been more important and this partnership, I am very excited to say, will provide just that.”

The London-based team of Guardian journalists will be led by multimedia news editor Mustafa Khalili, working closely with Vice News producers and development executives.

“Guardian journalism has never been more relevant or in demand,” commented Guardian News and Media editor-in-chief Katherine Viner. “This partnership recognises the Guardian and Vice as pioneers in digital news and underscores our commitment to using video to open up our journalism in new and interesting ways.”

Guardian Media Group chief executive David Pemsel added that partnering with Vice is testament to the company’s strategy to innovate on a global scale to maximise both the revenue potential and impact of our journalism. “We’re really excited about this opportunity to do just that whilst building further awareness of the Guardian brand both in the US and amongst valuable millennial audiences.”

Also this week, Vice has partnered with video inventory management platform SpotX to provide all digital platforms for Vice within Europe with technical infrastructure for automated video ad sales.

“Online video is the focus of our content,” commented Vice Digital EEA regional director partnerships Stefanos Constantinou. “The SpotX platform offers the necessary tools, transparency and flexibility to evolve our video business. We look forward to working with SpotX to maximise the programmatic video possibilities.”

“Last year, programmatic trading grew, especially in the area of transparency and data use in online video advertising,” said SpotX UK and Southern Europe managing director Leon Siotis. “SpotX is proud to work with Vice Digital, a successful publisher with a strong innovative character. Vice Digital has not only chosen for SpotX for technical reasons, but also due to the shared vision of the future for programmatic video advertising.”

Anna Dobbie

Reporter

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