In five months since its launch, VICE News on YouTube is “one of the biggest newscasts in America and possibly the world,” says Brian Dietz, SVP of Sales in this Beet.TV session video. He says that the network has over 650,000 subscribers on YouTube and has had 70 million views of its videos. The “success has been surprising even to us,” he tells moderator Ashley J. Swartz.
Dietz talks about the huge appetite for news among young consumers and how the edgy media brand is filling the demand.
VICE News is not a traditional newscast, but a series of reports which are posted daily to YouTube and widely promoted and shared. This 14-minute video on the Columbian drug business has gotten 100,000 views in about 24 hours. YouTube is heavily promoting the series with an extensive banner campaign.
In April of last year in Cannes, at MIPTV, we interviewed VICE’s president Andrew Creighton about plans for the news operation.
Also in the video, Dietz explains how VICE works with brands in creating bespoke content for brands.
This video was produced last week at the Beet.TV leadership summit on branded video. You can find more videos from the sessions and interviews here.
